October 12 poll: Biya has met his match in Bello Bouba!.

But wait a minute. There are possibilities that President Paul Biya can be shocked with a defeat, "too big to rig", to borrow a phrase from US President, Donald Trump.

Bello Bouba Magairi could, and can be that window of surprise, given the backing of Prof Maurice Kamto, who gives the ruling party goose bumps when he sneezes.

After months of silence following his definitive rejection for the race by the Constitutional Council and Elections Cameroon, he has been overtly courted for support by the three prominent candidates on the opposition bench - Akere Muna, Issa Tchiroma and Bello Bouba.

Unlike the vociferous Kamto known for his quick reactions, he maintained a suspicious silence, even in the face of probing  reporters and commentators crowning him as "Kingmaker" of a potential consensus candidate.

On Wednesday, he made a choice without naming the candidate, but left no one in doubt that it is Bello Bouba Magairi, former Minister of State, for Tourism and Leisure, and candidate of the UNDP who, like Issa Tchiroma, resigned from the Biya government.

In an open letter "to the 11 opposition candidates", Kamto appealed to them to "unite to liberate Cameroon".

In the statement, he said: "In the absence of agreeing on a single candidate, a coalition of several strong candidates could inspire great hope and trigger a comparable political dynamic".

He added that: "I have been observing the political scene in our country, consulting and listening to the actors. I would like to make the following appeal: We are at a historic moment where a political shift is possible. If the 11 opposition candidates were to all decide to rally behind one of their number, the most experienced politically and in State management, against the CPDM candidate, an irresistible popular momentum could be unleashed, making victory inevitable".

His choice among the pack of 11 with experience in government and momentum is without doubt Bello Bouba, who is also a former Prime Minister.

Some commentators had argued that Kamto should back the candidature of Batonnier Akere Muna of the Universe party, to reciprocate the support Akere gave him during the 2018 polls. 

The party has no popular clout and Akere's, just like Osih Joshua's, a far shot, has his Anglophone constituency, which is in turmoil with separatists crippling the electoral process there.

Make no mistake. Cameroon politics is not about crystallising issues or policies for the electorate to decide. Unfortunately, regionalism and even clannism with some blend of charisma are determinant factors.

Consequently, when the geopolitical map of the country is put into consideration, both Akere and Kamto are from the South. It therefore makes political capital to rally behind a candidate from the North to ensure a national spread.

Between Bello and Tchiroma, the heavyweights of the Grand North, the former is by every sieve of political assessment, a better choice. His party has seven parliamentarians, 16 councils, runs the City Council of Ngaoundere, a regional council in Adamawa and a senator, thus ranking second to the ruling CPDM in the country.

Teeming and boisterous crowds and officials of the SDF in the North West and West Regions, recently dumped their party to join the NUDP.

Bello has also made campaign trips to the North West in Bamenda, and South West with meetings in Limbe and Buea, where he rolled out an ambitious socio-economic and security plan.

His party is the only among all the 11 opposition outfits that has named campaign teams in all 10 Regions of the country, to illustrate his spread and preparedness.

Isn't it time for Tchiroma to bury the hatchet and egoistic consideration, considering his limited support in the Grand? 

Should Akere not also illustrate his magnanimity as a nationalist, anti-corruption advocate and patriot, and join the Bello team, so as not to be perceived as a pond in the ruling party's chess board? 

Even if the other inconsequential candidates run solo, their support for Bello Bouba, given his enviable track record, can still form a geopolitical formidable configuration pitted against an absent incumbent on the field, often represented only by an effigy by his campaigners.

There will be no qualm that Candidate Biya will meet his match, if not a front runner, in that team. 

With a massive turnout of compatriots from whom real power comes, voting and defending their votes on October 12, "a historic political shift", no, a change, is possible. It can.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3569 of Friday September 19, 2025