Maj-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari
Some
Presidency officials and second term Northern governors have begun
discreet overtures to top shots in the All Progressives Congress to stop
Maj-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd.) from picking the new platform’s
presidential ticket in 2015.
Buhari, who ran on the platform of the
Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 election, has indicated
intention to run again in 2015.
CPC is one of the parties in ongoing
talks to form the APC. Others are the Action Congress of Nigeria, All
Nigeria Peoples Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance.
It was learnt that at least one of the
governors had reached out directly to APC top shots to indicate his
interest. Others are said to be making indirect contacts through members
of the parties in the alliance.
They fear that it might be difficult to
jostle for the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket with President Goodluck
Jonathan, who is strongly believed to be angling for a second term, a
source who is knowledgeable about the matter said on condition of
anonymity.
Saturday PUNCH’s investigation showed
that some Presidency and PDP officials were working on ways to thwart
Buhari’s bid to strengthen Jonathan’s chances.
Two APGA leaders confirmed to Saturday
Punch that the platform was under pressure from Presidency and PDP
officials for the party to stay away from the merger. They said the
objective was to reduce Buhari’s chances of making significant inroads
into the South-East.
Also, it was learnt that they were
targeting the retrieval of APGA’s certificate of registration from its
former National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, through the legal process.
Umeh is aligned with Imo State Governor,
Rochas Okorocha, who has shown strong interest in the merger. The other
APGA governor, Peter Obi of Anambra State, has not associated with APC
so far.
Umeh was sacked last week by an Enugu High Court, but he told Saturday Punch on Thursday that he would appeal the judgment.
“To be frank with you, Buhari is a source
of worry to PDP and Presidency officials. Many of the people in the
alliance are actually there because of him. So far, he is the only
figure who can guarantee a national spread in the 2015 election and give
Jonathan a good fight,” a PDP source said.
A member of the APC merger committee, who
pleaded anonymity, told one of our correspondents that the governors
had reached out to the new party.
He said, “The governors are really
interested in joining us, as they have been advising us to look for a
younger person as our presidential candidate. We know this is to achieve
their selfish aim of contesting on our platform.
“We are also aware that PDP top shots and
some Presidency officials are afraid that the APC would provide Buhari a
nationwide platform to realise his ambition in 2015. That is why they
are jittery.”
However, Jonathan’s Special Adviser on
Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said Jonathan was ready to face
Buhari or any candidate in 2015. Although he said the merger was good
for democracy, he said its leaders must strive to build a national
platform for them to be taken seriously.
He said, “My Principal, the President of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is not jittery over anything. Buhari
was there in 2003, he was there in 2007, he was there in 2011.
“Are they going to rebrand him? No matter
how they rebrand him, the fact still remains that Buhari is not the
type of politician that can gather people that will build bridges for
him to win national elections; the facts are there.
But dismissing Gulak’s argument, the CPC
spokesman, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said, “They are afraid of the alliance,
but they are more afraid of Gen. Mohammadu Buhari. As we speak in
today’s Nigeria, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari has attracted to himself solid
people across the geo-political zones in the country because of the
solidity of his own character; because of the high moral fibre that he
brings to the party.
“What is the need for a big platform? The
need for a big platform is that whatever is happening in the nooks and
crannies of the country, there will be enough people to really stand
strong against the manipulations of the PDP.”
Also speaking, the National Publicity
Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Osita
Okechukwu said, “I’m not surprised that PDP is working extremely hard to
ensure that our merger does not succeed by pressurising some APGA
members and using them negatively. Whatever the Presidency is doing to
frustrate the merger won’t succeed.”
Punch
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