… Creates a wide gulf as delegates prepare to exercise their franchise
The early ejaculation of the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, may have exposed a ploy by the North to capture the presidential tickets of the two leading political parties in the country.
Adamu who took many Nigerians, including members of his own party by surprise announced that Senator Lawan Ahmad is the consensus candidate of the party.
The disclosure made by Adamu has sent shockwaves across the entire country.
President Muhammadu Buhari… What next?
Inside the APC, the announcement has led to a row, with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari and some members of the APC leadership kicking against the claim by the National Chairman.
Nnamani, exits from presidential race as the conspiracy thickens.
At least seven members of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, have openly disagreed with him.
President Buhari who appears to be championing the cause of a consensus candidate however beat a hasty retreat as delegates to the convention raised eyebrows.
Some are already demanding the resignation or sack of the National Chairman.
Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi. What will be Amaechi’s fate?
Buhari as leader of the party after several engagements with Governors as well as the presidential aspirants has been unable to name who his preferred candidate is.
Knowledgeable sources within the polity say what is playing out within the APC is part of an agenda to deny the South of the presidency by any means possible.
Tinubu, watches as his ambition suffers from a political coup. Will he defy the alleged choice of a consensus candidate?
“It is a Fulani plot” an analyst hissed, “It is the turn of northern elements within the party (APC) to complete the remaining part of the script which began with events in the PDP.
“We are all witnesses to what happened to Governor Wike of Rivers State at the just concluded convention of the PDP. Now a similar move is taking place here.”
APC Governors are however insisting power should go to the South in the interest of national unity.
How long they would be able to hold out, given what is obviously the mood by some highly placed northern politicians to seize power remains to be seen.
For now, there is a growing rift within the APC, following the decision of the National Chairman to act what some see as an script.
Where was the decision taken? Who were the people who agreed to the consensus plan?
Could it be coincidental that Adamu is acting in a similar manner like his counterpart in the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu who openly described the Governor of Sokoto State as a hero when Wike was tactically edged out in a race he was poised to win?
Iyorchia Ayu, descended into the arena
Wike had alluded to a conspiracy when he broke his silence shortly after the race in which he demonstrated political tenacity, courage, capacity and an uncanny survival extinct.
A not-too-wide margin gave the win to Atiku Abubakar to set up a Northern presidential ticket on the platform of the PDP.
Not many have any doubt any more about what is beginning to look like a complete plan by the North to occupy the Presidency back to back.
President Buhari had denied his involvement in the choice of Adamu as the party Chairman when rumors of his emergence as the incoming party chairman leaked, but turned around later to endorse him.
Orji Uzo Kanu said on Channels Television while declaring his support for Lawan on Monday that there is nothing which happens in the APC that the President does not know.
It may well turn out to be so if northern delegates ditch their support for Southern aspirants in support for Lawan.
Buba Galadima had said on Channels Television that democracy is a game of numbers.
Those numbers, it would appear, is all that counts as the nation in transition prepares for 2023.