The last 24 hours have seen upheavals within Nigeria’s ruling All Progressive Congress as conflicting interests within the party move to outwit one another in the game of power.
After what appeared to be a settled matter, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdulahi Adamu, announced Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate for the presidential race at a time that thousands of delegates were trooping in from all states of the federation.
His announcement had upset the entire party structure leading to confusion within the party across the country.
On Tuesday considered to be the D-Day, all seems hazy for the party as conflicting interests seek to gain control of the party towards winning the ticket of the party.
Majorly in the race are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Governor Bola Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, businessman, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi.
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Adamu’s announcement had led to angry governors of the North seeking audience with President Muhammadu Buhari who however said he had not anointed any candidate for the ticket.
One of the governors, who is also in the race, Yahaya Bello, stormed out of the meeting with his colleagues after they maintained their earlier stance that presidency must be ceded to the South.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, had said that it was within the right of Bello to excuse himself from the meeting of the Northern governors adding that it would not change their position over the decision earlier arrived at.
A member of the National Working Committee, Suleiman Argungun, had told reporters on Monday that Adamu may have spoken his own mind and not necessarily the position of the NWC.
Argungu had said, “We were fully briefed by our national chairman, His Excellency Abdulahi Adamu and he said Ahmed Lawan, the Senate President is our consensus candidate for the APC National Convention and that is just the information he gave us but it is not an issue that has been discussed on the floor of the NWC but we are all aware. Just about 2 days ago, the Northern Governors had a meeting that the leadership of this country and that the All Progressive Congress should go to the North and equally, the Southern governors affirmed that.
“So we the members of the NWC are also with them on what they have said and just some minutes ago, the governors in the North have gone to the presidency and have just briefed the press and they are still on what they said as regards the power to the south.
“It is an information and all of us are entitled to our opinion in our own democrats. This decision was not taken by the NWC.”
In his reaction, Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum Rotimi Akeredolu, said Adamu was on his own over his adoption of the Senate President as the party’s candidate.
He said, “He has, allegedly, made public his preferred choice as the candidate of the APC for the Office of the President in the next general elections.
“This alleged pronouncement runs contrary to the position of majority of Northern Governors in APC and their counterparts in the South. Our agreement is unanimous on this issue,” he said.
Akeredolu said that the office of the President should be contested for by qualified persons from the Southern part of the country if the move to get a consensus candidate fails.
“There has been no shift from this settled issue.
“Let it be known that the Chairman or anyone who holds a contrary opinion does so at a personal level.
“He is at best embarking on a frolic which reasonable people will consider dangerous.
“We are grieving but have not forgotten that Power must shift to the south. On this we stand,” Akeredolu said.