Atiku Abubakar, former vice president of Nigeria and brief contestant for the APC presidential ticket, is a man of many virtues. It would seem, unfortunately, that his virtues are only outnumbered by his misfortunes.

One of the first clashes for the throne involving the Turakin Adamawa was with the former president Olusegun Obasanjo, and this set the climate for his future political endeavors. As a political commentator commented once, "Atiku is one of the best political minds in Nigeria, but the men in uniform appear to be quick learners."

It is no secret that Atiku's sour relationship with Obasanjo led to his being sidelined as a candidate for the presidency (right after Obasanjo's third term manipulations tanked). Instead, Yar'Adua (now late, bless his soul) was picked as Nigeria's president - 'picked' being the operational word. This blow dealt to Atiku was not going to smart for a brief time, alas, because he was freshly slammed again when Goodluck Jonathan was backed by 'baba' (the crafty old fox) in the 2011 election primaries, which saw the enthronement of the shoeless president.

Here we are in 2015. Atiku, realizing that as long as he stayed in a party under the influence of his sworn Loki, he may never clinch that ticket. He made the well-considered move and jumped ship to the APC, searching for the mandate to rule the nation. For a time, it looked like the tide might well be in his favor.

On social media, Atiku was totally reborn, a Twitter savant, with cute, funny tweets and arresting photos portraying him as the only man who knew what the hell was wrong with this ailing country. The people loved him. He was getting crazy retweets -

- but the APC primaries came, and once more, Atiku was left in the lurch. In his stead, another former military man, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (that tenacious fighter for the presidency), took the ticket - right under Atiku's nose! - and the rest, as they say, is history.

Make no bones about it: Atiku did play his cards well: the defection, the monies spent, and even his (presumably painful) reconciliation with Obasanjo, and it all went to the wind.

When he first arrived at the doorsteps of what would become PDP's greatest scourge - the APC, he was welcomed with open arms. APC was welcoming defectors with a cookie and a grin, and Atiku was, quite literally, their big fish. However, once his roots had become firm on APC soil, he was given the classic political treatment.

I do not know Atiku personally, but there's no way he has been a happy man these past months. He has been politically sidelined during the entire campaign process (remember when he said, quite sadly I imagine, that he wasn't invited to Buhari's campaigns?) His carbon footprint as far as this election is concerned is minute and there's no indication that he would be any more relevant in coming days.

A politician would do well to be wary both of his fellow agbada wearers and of the men in khaki. Word to President Jonathan.

- JUSTIN IRABOR