There are indications that Kano State governor, Rabi’u Kwankwaso who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), could emerge as the presidential candidate of the opposition APC in the 2015 general elections.
This follows the decision of the party to dump former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the race to pick its presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2015 presidential election.The governors of the APC favour Kwankwaso as a result of the recent local government elections in Kano where the party garnered over two million votes, winning all the 44 local government chairmanship positions and all the councillorship seats, although the result is considered not to be free and fair.
Kwankwaso, it was learnt has what it takes to win the presidency for the opposition party, even as our source said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was never in contention.
Buhari and Tinubu are not enjoying the support of the party’s local and international backers to run for election, although Buhari has a proven highest number of supporters compared to anyone in APC.
It would be recalled that there were rumours of the APC flying a Muslim-Muslim ticket of Buhari and Tinubu for the 2015 presidential election, a rumour yet to be refuted by the party leadership.
A competent source told National Mirror that although Tinubu would throw his hat into the ring and contest for the party’s ticket in its primaries, he is not among the favoured. The source said that the former governor would only want to use his aspiration as a negotiating instrument to secure a good bargain for the South-West geo-political zone.
The source said: “Buhari and Tinubu are already out of the calculations in APC’s presidential ticket for next year’s election. Local backers of the APC, which included former heads of state and prominent former military generals, traditional and religious leaders across the country have made it clear to the party leadership that both Buhari and Tinubu are out of reckoning for the party’s ticket.
“In the same vein, international backers of the party have also expressed preference for a fresh, young and vibrant individual to fly the party’s flag in 2015. But I can tell you categorically that Tinubu will want to contest for the party’s ticket, but he will only use it to bargain for a good position for his South-West zone.”
He also told National Mirror that the party has zoned its National Chairmanship to the South-South, while it presidential ticket has been zoned to the North-West. The South-West will produce the party’s vice presidential candidate while the President of the Senate has been zoned to the South- East.
On the insinuation that the party was positioning Tambuwal to clinch its presidential ticket, the source said: “That is not correct. Although Tambuwal is a detribalised politician, he has not garnered enough experience to preside over the affairs of this nation at this time. It will be a boost for the APC if he is part of the wind of change blowing across the country.”
National Mirror
No comments:
Post a Comment