Despite
repeated denials of his involvement in the race for the 2015 presidential race,
emerging facts indicate that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.
Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has intensified direct and indirect solicitation of
support from some northern governors and frontline emirs.
Saturday Sun had, two weeks ago, reported that Tambuwal may have
concluded plans to seek the nomination of the newly formed mega opposition
party, All Progressives Congress (APC) should President Goodluck Jonathan
decide to contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Tambuwal’s moves come as three former
presidential candidates and prominent promoters of APC have activated their
aspiration to vie for the new party’s ticket. They are presidential candidate
of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari; All
Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP),
Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN),
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in the 2011 general elections. Although ACN and CPC have,
however, said the issue of who picks APC’s presidential ticket is not on the
front burner of the new party, a member of the House of Representatives, who is
deeply involved in the “Tambuwal project,” told Saturday Sun that the Speaker
has to intensify “building more bridges across all divides to broaden his
support base, so as to make his candidacy an easy sell for our likely platform
in the 2015 race.”
When asked if the Speaker is aware that some governors in the
North may also be nursing an ambition to be adopted as the zone’s consensus
candidate, the source said: “We are very sure of that and this is why we have
not forgotten to extend our hands of fellowship to our governors, either
directly or indirectly. “Apart from the Speaker’s personal visits and contacts
with the governors, don’t forget that all members of the House are involved in
this project and some of us have good relationships with our governors,
especially those from the North.
This is in addition to the influence of some of our prominent
emirs, who are already aware of the project. And we believe our governors will
show understanding when the time comes because they have been producing the
president of the country since the 2003 election, so we are convinced that
after some political negotiations they will allow the legislative arm of our
democratic experience make its own contributions by supporting one of us.”
Another member of the House of Representatives, who is also involved in
promoting the Tambuwal presidency, disclosed that the level of support among
members of the House is unprecedented.
To buttress this, the lawmaker from the North West said: “If the
Hon. Speaker decides to join APC to run on their platform today, I can tell you
that same moment almost all PDP members in the House will follow him.” While
explaining why Tambuwal is being cautious about his move in this regard, the
source said: “That is being delayed because discussions and agreements with the
APC leadership have to be firm and thorough first and, besides, we are also
working on an information that the presidency is waiting for that will happen,
so that they can frustrate the release of funds coming into the House to get
members agitated and move against the Speaker.”
When asked about a major hurdle of contending with the
candidature of Gen Buhari in the race to pick the APC presidential ticket, the
lawmaker explained that the former Head of State is an elder statesman who can
always be persuaded to give the younger generation a chance. “There is, no doubt,
Gen Buhari controls the crowd and mass followership in the North, which is his
greatest asset. But we also know that influential members of the northern elite
are not comfortable with him and so could sabotage his victory at the general
elections.
This is why we believe we can beg him and we will have to beg
him to accept a younger candidate who enjoys wider acceptability across the
country,” the source added. Meanwhile, there are indications that Buhari may
have succumbed to pressures from his supporters to run in the 2015 race on the
platform of APC. Buhari and national leader of the ACN, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who
are both frontline promoters of APC, had, at a time, agreed to sacrifice their
ambition in the interest of their new party and the nation. While Tinubu is yet
to shift ground on his initial commitment, a highly placed source in Buhari’s
camp said the former Head of State has succumbed to agitations for him to
contest the presidency the fourth time.
“We believe he will be the best candidate for APC to win the
presidential election in 2015 because of his performance in the 2011 election,
especially in the North where he won convincingly in several states, especially
in the North West. With the coalition of the progressives in APC, the base has been
widened and we believe we only need the South West and some support from the
South East and South South to send PDP packing in the next election.
This is why we are working to make him get the APC ticket,” he
stated. Last Wednesday, Gen. Buhari did not mince words to confirm his interest
to contest the next elections on the platform of APC and the possibility of his
stepping down for a better candidate. Speaking in Minna, Niger State, at a
public lecture, Buhari said: “Whoever thinks he has got a chance, let him come
out because the more we are, the merrier it becomes.
I will be ready to step down if there is a formidable and better
candidate. It is not about me but for the survival of the party. APC is about
ensuring internal democracy, whoever emerges is the person I will support. Yes,
I will be ready to step down.” It was also gathered that while the former ANPP
presidential candidate, Mallam Shekarau, has begun the activation of his 2011
campaign structure preparatory to vying for the APC ticket ahead of the 2015
polls, his ACN counterpart, Mallam Ribadu has equally begun to restore his last
campaign machinery, especially his media contacts. Towards this, one of
Ribadu’s former aides when he was at the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) as chairman, has already relocated from his base in Lagos to
Abuja to ensure the take-off of the retired police officer’s campaign.
Besides, the former ACN presidential candidate has been seen to
be available at all party functions to increase his visibility. “So far, the
Ribadu media team has started work and we have activated our relationship with
the team of journalists that worked with us during the last election,” a member
of Team Ribadu told Saturday Sun on condition of anonymity. While trying to
downplay the jostle for APC ticket, National Publicity Secretary of ACN, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed, said the talk about a presidential candidate for APC at this
stage of its formation is a PDP agenda to distract the new party.
“We don’t even want to put anybody’s ambition on our front
burner now. We don’t want PDP to use that to foist its agenda on us. When we
get there, (the point of choosing a presidential candidate) we will sort that
out,” he stressed. In his reaction to a question on whether there is any
pressure on Buhari to pave the way for Tambuwal to pick the APC ticket, CPC
spokesman, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin rhetorically asked whose interest such a
decision would serve.
According to him, “it is a rumour that has no iota of truth in
it. I don’t know whose interest the people spreading this rumour are serving.
Nobody is putting pressures on Gen. Buhari for anything. There is no truth in
it.”
Source: Sun
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