That Senator Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu is the likely APC candidate is now almost a forgone conclusion is no longer in contest. Any doubt about this was erased Tuesday night at the Eagle Square venue of the ongoing APC convention.
In addition, as the counting continues to reveal more votes for the former Lagos State governor, any doubting Thomas is surely certain to personally touch and feel the holes from the nail pierced through the palm of Jesus Christ as he was crucified on the cross of Calvary at the Golgotha.
However, as they say, it is never over until it is over. In a short while from this moment, the final report will be announced. Therefore, until then maybe we can keep our fingers tightly crossed.
Notwithstanding, one thing we cannot ignore at this moment is what happened on Saturday night. The surprise of the night, which was the sudden unity amongst the candidates from the South West gunning for the APC ticket could not have passed without notice.
These contestants were Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the APC, Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State, former Speaker Dimeji Bankole, and Gov. Kayode Fayemi, the current governor of Ekiti State.
Almost each of these co-contestants with Tinubu had beef to grind with him. Particularly Ibikunle Amosun and Gov. Kayode Fayemi, who were former political allies of the former Lagos State governor, had fallen out with him and could have done anything to scuttle his chances of emerging as the APC candidate.
In fact, those who closely watched as developments progressed in the course of the race for the APC ticket, had thought that these two persons in particular were in the race to ensure that Tinubu is denied any chance of emerging as the APC flag bearer.
Political pundits postulated that the proliferation of the South West candidates was to drastically reduce the homeland support from the zone that will be in favour of Tinubu, thereby balkanizing the South West delegates.
This according to these pundits could have allowed them to work with their Northern associates to elect Prof Yemi Osinbajo, by augmenting his share of the South West votes with massive support from the Northern delegates.
However, in the most surprising turn of events, all the South West candidates, one after the other step down from the race and openly declared support for Senator Tinubu.
How and why this happened is not yet clear, but what is clear is that the strategy is a masterstroke that immediately brightened the chances of the APC National Leader, Senator Ahmed Tinubu.
This is indeed a chapter from the political playbook of the North, which also played out in the last People`s Democratic Party convention, where Gov. Tambuwual of Sokoto State stepped down for Abubakar Atiku almost at the 11th hour.
With this singular action, Tambuwual threw in the towel, throwing all his political capital entirely to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. This step effectively decided the day and cemented Atiku`s victory as the PDP flag bearer for the 2023 presidential elections.
Every other challengers facing Atiku and the threat they posed was almost immediately melted, and those whose heart was palpitating all the while suddenly found great relieve.
The thunderous and noisy ovation following the disclosure of that decision by Governor Tambuwual was a confirmation of why his stepping down was a redeeming feature for Atiku and by extension the North in their quest to retain power in 2023.
Atiku`s supporters and what many would describe as the Northern delegates went wild in jubilation following the withdrawal of the Sokoto governor, and that their reaction spoke volume.
This is exactly what the South West politician re-enacted on Tuesday night at the Eagle Square, and the result is almost certain even the end of sorting and counting of the ballot containing the votes from the delegates.
Those who were in competition with Ahmed Tinubu suddenly realized the need to work for the common interest of the South West, and they saw in Tinubu the candidate that can deliver the goods for the zone.
While it is not yet clear where Prof. Yemi Osunbajo did not take this path, one this is very clear notwithstanding is that the threat from the Vice President and other challengers of Ahmed Tinubu became profoundly whittled down.
