Politicking has reached fever pitch ahead of the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party faces an uphill task of choosing its presidential candidate.
The indication is that the choice of the 2023 APC presidential candidate will emerge through the ballot at the ongoing national convention.
Intensive lobbying of APC delegates has begun in Abuja as the ruling party prepares to choose its presidential candidate at the Eagle Square on Tuesday. Moves by interest groups asking contenders from the South to drop out of the race for their candidates have made no progress. The support of northern governors for a consensus candidate from the South failed, even before it came into effect, said an APC member in Abuja who spoke on condition anonymity.
News that Abdullahi Adamu, national chairman of the APC, announced Ahmad Lawan, president of the Senate, as consensus candidate is a mystery, says a source in Aso Rock. There is no video or statement from the APC chairman. There are, however, conspiracy theories about how the news went viral.
A similar leak, though true, was the news about the northern APC governors’ support for a consensus candidate from the South. The governors apologised to President Muhammadu Buhari for not letting him know before the news was made public. They insist their position remains.
The Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is said to have held a meeting, with the deputy governor of Kano in attendance, suggesting a split in the state with the most number of delegates.
In the last 72 hours, President Buhari has intensified efforts to achieve his plans to broker a consensus candidate for the party, holding several meetings – some open, while some are behind the scene.
In these meetings, the President did not hide the fact that he has plans to choose his successor.
President Buhari said the meetings were convened to provide leadership and direction during the transition period, adding that the motive was “to strengthen our unity and to focus on building upon our electoral fortunes.”
He added: “I am optimistic that the outcome of this consultation with the National Advisory Council will, in addition to sharpening our focus, help to fortify the positive democratic principles, practices and culture that already exists within the party system.
“In the course of these consultative processes, I have already met separately with the Progressive Governors and with all our eminent members who are aspiring to become the presidential flag-bearer for our party during the 2023 elections.”
The current tension is, however, compounded by the fact that he is yet to unveil the “masquerade that had received his consequential anointing.”
The northern governors elected on the platform of the APC narrowed the contest to only the southern aspirants.
The President has, however, kept his choice to his chest, even as he seeks to push his choice of successor through consensus.
The President, at one of such meetings, gave aspirants criteria for selecting a consensus candidate before the June 6-8 convention of the party, including that such a candidate must “be appealing to the electorates.”
“I wish to remind you that our choice of flagbearer must be formidable, appealing to the electorate across the board and should command such ability to unify the country and capacity to address our critical challenges,” he said.
The President also urged the aspirants to look beyond personal ambitions but to “put national and party interest first.”
As at the time of filing this report, all the APC aspirants were carrying out intense political horse-trading, lobbying the delegates, even as the President continued with his behind-the-scenes consultations over the choice of the party’s candidate, ahead of the convention.
While arrangements for the convention are in place, the primary election, according to a programme of events obtained by BusinessDay, will take place on Tuesday (today).
But as it is, the southern region and APC presidential aspirants from that part of the country are yet to arrive at a consensus, as advised by the party’s hierarchy.
APC governors and leaders from the North at the weekend conceded the contest to the South and one of the aspirants, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru.
The APC governors and leaders made their resolution known in a statement after their meeting on Saturday and signed by governors of the party from the region, except Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, who is also aspiring for the position.
They said: “After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria. It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in any way affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.
Read also: Controversy as Adamu unveils Lawan as APC consensus presidential candidate
“We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC’s presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states. We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries.”
BusinessDay gathered that the search for a consensus candidate has continued ahead of the Tuesday’s exercise.
If the consensus arrangement fails, the party’s 2, 340 ad-hoc delegates would decide the fate of the remaining 13 aspirants seeking the APC presidential ticket.
John Odigie-Oyegun, chairman of the APC presidential screening committee when he submitted his report to Adamu, said one of the aspirants was opposed to consensus.
He said: “We engage every aspirant on the issue of consensus and it was a pleasant surprise that 99 percent agreed that the party is supreme and whatever the party finally decides with proper consultation they were likely to accept.
“There is only one person that said ‘I will accept consensus as long as it is based on me.’ We should not be afraid of the contested primary if anybody insists on the contest.”
Until the consensus approach is adopted or the President’s choice is unveiled, the horse-trading, lobbying and maneuvering will continue ahead of the primary election.
“As Nigeria’s major political parties select their presidential candidates for 2023 in a context of insurgency, banditry, terrorism, conflict and killings, what are the worst-case scenarios? Is a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria still possible? Will Nigeria retain its sub-optimal mainstream scenario of wavering, drift and dithering? Is a best-case scenario of growth, sustained expansion and shared prosperity a realistic prospect?” Opeyemi Agbaje, founder/chairman of RTC Advisory Services Ltd, asked.
