JUST IN: See the consensus candidate for APC national chairmanship as Buhari shifts ground for governors to have their way

Governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Con­gress (APC) will this week take a decision on the aspirant they want as the consensus candidate for the national chairmanship and other positions in the incoming National Working Committee (NWC) of the party ahead of the national conven­tion scheduled for February 26.

A credible source in the party who is abreast of the developments relating to the convention said the governors after reaching a decision on their choice will make their position known to President Muhammadu Buhari and other key leaders of the party. ­

He said President Muham­madu Buhari, who will be completing his tenure next year, has already yielded to the governors, who are leaders of the APC in their respective states to take deci­sion that will augur well for the party ahead of the 2023 general elections.

According to him, this may have been informed by the fact that President Buhari who said he will return to his farm after leaving office as president in 2023 may take the back seat from partisan politics.

He added that the APC gov­ernors under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Fo­rum (PGF) have technically taken over the party since 2020 when one of them, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state, emerged as the chairman of the party’s Caretaker Extraor­dinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

“The governors will decide who emerges the national chairman. Hopefully, this week, they will arrive at a de­cision on who the consensus candidate will be. If you recall, there was a meeting they held before the Edo governorship election in 2020.

“At that meeting, they agreed that they want to con­trol all the levers of power in the party. They want the pres­idential candidate, vice-pres­idential candidate, national chairman and other key po­sitions.

“Their job is clearly cut out for them because one of them, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state, is currently the na­tional chairman of the party and he will preside over the convention.

“If you have also been fol­lowing developments in the party, the governors have al­ways stood by him and on sev­eral occasions passed a vote of confidence in him despite attempts to remove him from office as APC chairman. So, the party and the governors are on the same page on the issue of the national chairmanship and other positions in the incoming NWC.

“Yes, the president is a key factor but it is easy for the gov­ernors to convince him that any decision they have taken is in the best interest of the party. The president in a re­cent interview warned that if the APC does not put its house in order, they may lose the elec­tion to the PDP. So, it is easy for the governors to tell him that as leaders of the party, this is who we want and back it up with reasons”, he said.

Among those who have in­dicated interest in the position of national chairman are a former deputy national chair­man of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Saliu Mustapha; former gover­nor of Nasarawa state, Tanko Al-Makura, former governor of Borno state, Ali-Modu Sher­iff and senator representing Ni­ger East District, Mohammed Sani-Musa.

Others are former gover­nors of Zamfara State, Ab­dulaziz Yari; Bauchi state, Isa Yuguda; Borno state, Kashim Shettima; Gombe state, Dan­juma Goje; Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmen­tal Affairs, George Akume; Sunny Moniedafe and Moham­med Saidu-Etsu.

When asked who is likely to emerge as the consensus can­didate, our source said the race has zeroed Al-Makura, Sani Musa and Saliu Mustapha.

“As it stands, Al-Makura, Sani Musa and Saliu Mus­tapha are the three frontline candidates. However, a dark horse may emerge in the com­ing days”, he said.

#Daily Independent