Day and nocturnal meetings
have become the lot of the of the four presidential aspirants of the All
Presidential Congress, APC lately, Vanguard investigations have revealed.
The meetings which now hold in and
outside Abuja were to essentially reach consensus of who would eventually fly
the flag of the leading opposition party in the 2015 general elections.
The four aspirants who are jostling for
the ticket of the party and have purchased their nomination forms for the
contest included former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and former Head of
State, General Mohammad Buhari.
The two others were the incumbent
Governor of Kano State, Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Founder and Publisher of
Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah who picked his own form last week.
Imo State Governor, Mr. Rochas
Okorocha, is also interested in the office but was yet to pick his nomination
form.
An APC source in Abuja who confided
in Vanguard confirmed the meetings of the presidential aspirants.
A highly placed officer of the party
at its national secretariat in Abuja, the source said the it was a normal
democratic process for the four aspirants to agree among themselves on who
would eventually become the party’s candidate, saying that anything short of
that would necessity the conduct of primaries for them.
He however said the party has not,
at the moment, set up any committee for the exercise that is scheduled to hold
on December 8, 2014.
“It is a normal political process.
But as a party, we have not really set a committee. The aspirants themselves
are working to get a consensus. Several interest groups around the aspirants
are also exploring every opportunity for consensus.
“My understanding of the matter is
that, I am sure the consensus matter that is being will be pursued to the
logical end. Wherever they were unable to produce the outcome that we want,
then we will conduct the primaries which is democratic too. If one of the
aspirants who bought the form says he doesn’t want consensus, then we have to
conduct the primaries. But unless all the four aspirants who bought the form
agree on one candidate,” he said.
The source also dismissed the
reports that governors on APC platform were asking for vice presidential plot,
saying that what was important to the party was the emergence of marketable
presidential products.
He said: “I am not aware of the
governors asking for the VP slot. At no forum have I heard that. I am a high
ranking member of the party, if that happened, I should have known. It is a
mere speculation. The important thing is to produce a candidate and the running
mate that will win vote for us.
“If the running mate will come from
the governors, fine. But to impose a candidate on the party, they cannot. Ok,
now, whether the governors like it or not, a presidential candidate must
emerge, isn’t it? Once the candidate emerges, he will have a running mate. The
party might have a say but the candidate determines who his running mate will
be.”
Another party source who spoke to
Vanguard said that ” a lot of meetings are going on here and there between the
aspirants”.
According to him, it was not clear
who the candidate would be.
But investigations also revealed
that Gen. Buhari is likely to become the presidential candidate of the party.
His name, sources said, came up each
time such topic was discussed.
“But I do not know who may emerge
the candidate among them. For me, it is Buhari’s name that I keep hearing”,
another source said.
They however added that it would be
a difficult issue if former Vice President Atiku failed to consent to consensus
plan.
For them, Kano State Governor,
Kwankwaso and Leadership Chairman, Isaiah would not be a major problem but
Atiku who they said may not easily step down for Buahri should the odds Favour
him.
Meanwhile, Isaiah while picking his
form last week promised that the aspirants would play the game according to the
rules.
He also expressed optimism of
securing the party’s presidential ticket when asked by Vanguard if he was
frightened by the “big names”.
“We can assure you that we are going
to work by the rules. We are going to ensure to it comes out well without any
rancour in the interest of our party and this nation because we know how
important it is for the party to win the next election.
“We are doing it on the 8th of
December and we have promised it is going to be rancour free. We will all
support whoever eventually emerges. But I intend to win”, he said.
source:Vanguard News
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