Consensus plan: Shock, as Buhari begs Govs to pick preferred Presidential candidate
…Tinubu unstoppable in APC presidential politics — Kperogi
…President has told us his ideal successor — Gov. Sule
…Adamu gagging, blackmailing us in Buhari’s name — NWC’s members cry out
By Uthman Salami
President, Muhammadu Buhari has rendered many members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in shock, as he begged the Governors in the party to allow him pick an anointed candidate who would fly the party’s flag in the 2023 presidential election.
Recall that Buhari had earlier dropped the hint few months ago while featuring in a live television interview, telling Nigerians that he had a preferred presidential candidate, albeit he did not disclose his identity.
This new twist by the President has thrown the 25 presidential aspirants and their supporters in shock as the knowledge of whom that anointed candidate is remains unknown.
Also, the fiery professor, Farooq Kperogi has insisted that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remained unstoppable in the race, just as Governor Abdullah Sule of Nasarawa said that President Buhari has highlighted the qualities of the person he wanted as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.
Meanwhile, a fresh supremacy battle has begun to rock the ruling party as Members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress have charged APC leaders to call the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, to order.
Buhari’s begs Governors to support his chosen Presidential candidate
At yesterday’s meeting with APC’s governors, the president indicated that he was ready to unveil his candidate for next year’s election.
In achieving this, the President sought the support of the governors under the APC noting that “first term governors who have served credibly well have been encouraged to stand for re-election. Similarly, second term governors have been accorded the privilege of promoting successors that are capable of driving their visions as well as the ideals of the party.”
He urged the APC to replicate the gesture at the presidential primary, pleading that the outcome of the primary should reflect the changing dynamics of public expectation and the positive quality of the APC regarding democratic principles.
In his statement during the meeting with the Governors, the President emphasised that the candidate should be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence, even before the elections.
Tinubu unstoppable in APC presidential politics — Kperogi
In one of various articles by Professor Farooq Kperogi, he maintained that the candidature of the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remained unstoppable in the party, according to what Nigerian NewsDirect obtained from his Facebook page
He said, “There is no question that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the main character in the movie of APC’s 2023 presidential politics. Others are mere pawns or supporting casts.
“The postponement of the party’s primaries, the crowding of the presidential primary field of play, the frenetic horse trading, the subterranean wheeler-dealing, the consensus proposal, etc. in APC were all designed to keep Tinubu out of contention for the party’s nomination.
“Several meetings convened to persuade Tinubu to consent to a consensus candidate for the party, which is the singular reason the party instructed INEC to extend the deadline for primary elections, didn’t work.
“Then, the party toyed with the idea of asking the screening committee, indicatively headed by his political enemy John Oyegun, to disqualify him on the grounds of previous false claims he’d made—under oath, no less— that he attended the University of Chicago, Government College Ibadan, and St. Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan.
“The petition by one Mai-Iyali Sagir Wada to the screening committee was part of the plot.
“Apparently, that hasn’t worked out because the party’s legal advisers know that if Tinubu sues the party for disqualifying on account of a perjury he committed more than 20 years ago, his victory would be a slam dunk.
“The fear of Buhari and his cabal is that should a primary election be held, the chances that Tinubu would win are more likely than not, and they DON’T WANT him to be president.
“Well, if his victory in the APC primary election is inevitable and they don’t want him to be president, the only option left for them at this time is to let him win the primary and then sabotage him in the general election.”
Buhari has told governors his ideal APC presidential candidate – Gov. Sule
On his part, the Nasarawa State Governor, said the President Muhammadu Buhari has made known the qualities of the person he wanted as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.
He stated this in a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, monitored by Nigerian NewsDirect.
He, however, maintained that the President has not come up with any name that fits the profile he presented.
Adamu gagging, blackmailing us in Buhari’s name — NWC’s members cry out
Some members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress have accused the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu of gagging and blackmailing NWC, calling on leaders of the party to call him to order.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the North-West National Vice Chairman, Mallam Salihu Lukman and his South-West counterpart, Isaacs Kekemeke, on Tuesday.
The statement read, “The National Chairman takes decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions.
“We are compelled to make this statement following serial postponement of the scheduled National Working Committee meetings, twice within 48 hours.
“We are convinced beyond doubt that this is a deliberate attempt to foist a fait accompli on the NWC on fundamental issues that affect our great party.
“Within just two months in the lifespan of the new leadership of our great party, APC, led by His Excellency, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the NWC, organ of the party vested with the power of managing the day-to-day affairs, including implementing decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), as provided in Article 13.4 of the APC Constitution, has been rendered redundant.”
The letter stated that despite all efforts made to get the Chairman to respect the authority of the NWC as elected by the March 26 National Convention proved difficult, Adamu remained unyielding.
Following his refusal to change, the committee “note that NEC’s donation of its powers was to NWC and not to the National Chairman or any individual.
“We, therefore, have no option but to make this public appeal to all APC leaders to intervene please urgently to call our National Chairman, His Excellency, Abdullahi Adamu to order, immediately.
“The National Chairman must be properly reminded to recognise that the business of managing the day-to-day affairs of the party is the responsibility of the NWC as provided in provisions of the APC Constitution.
“He is free to consult any party leader(s). Such consultations will not represent decisions of the NWC or any organ of the party unless and until it is adopted by a properly constituted meeting of the NWC or organ in question according to the letters and spirit of the APC constitution,” he said.
Lukman further noted that the APC had suffered enough from avoidable leadership issues, stating that, “We will also consider it as an infringement on the jurisdictional scope of the NWC, unless otherwise confirmed as validly approved decisions of the NWC or any other legitimate organ of the party.
“No NWC member is elected at the March 26, 2022, National Convention to warm seats or offices in the National Secretariat. We, therefore, call on all our colleagues in the NWC to rise to these challenging situations by joining hands with us to save our great party and return it to its founding mission of moving Nigeria forward based on honest, fair, just and selfless commitment to party building.”
