As voting finally began in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in Abuja for the 2023 flag bearer of the party, there is no doubt there is some form of reluctance in the minds of many bookmakers to continue pondering with what could possibly be the final outcome.
How things eventually panned out on the last day before the commencement of the voting turned out to be completely at variance with the expectations of many watchers of events in the APC and what they predicted could happen.
As the various permutations and developments emerged and news filtered in from all sides of interests competing for attention and supremacy in the party, most of what was thought about the way things will turnout in the convention began to change by the minute.
The first surprise was when the APC chairman, Senator Abdulahi Adamu released a statement to the party`s National Working Committee (NWC) about the selection of the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate going into the primaries.
This did not go down well with other interests in the party. Not even within the NWC was this announcement was this welcomed. The fact that the Chairman said that his announcement was first cleared with President before the decision was made, did not persuade those who were against it and out to draw blood.
This announcement by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu on Monday at the meeting of National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja was publicly denounced by at least 7 members of the committee.
Eventually, the APC chairman`s announcement turned out to be a cart flying exercise by the Buhari side, which apparently wanted the choice of Senator Ahmed Lawam over the other aspirants.
However, on seeing the loud, aggressive and boisterous objection of the idea, Buhari and his team sensed trouble and immediately chickened out of the consensus candidacy of the Senate President.
This was followed by almost instant announcement, which could be interpreted to mean disowning the APC chairman and his announcement of Ahmed Lawan as the APC consensus candidate.
In the announcement that could be interpreted as “360 U-turn” by President Buhari, he committed to a democratic process for the APC primary for the presidential ticket and promised that only the party delegates can chose who will become the APC presidential flag bearer.
No doubt, President Buhari had a preferred candidate as his successor and had publicly admitted this in a Channels Television interview. He however, did not disclose whom this person is. For a long time Buhari choose to hold his card very close to his chest.
The choice of the Senate President became a strong possibility as this choice successor, when he ventured into the raise almost at a late stage of the declaration of interest.
With his closeness to the President, many would not have expected him to purchase the highly expensive APC nomination form without the assurance of a clear path to emerging victorious in the contest.
This assurance have only come from the upper echelon of in the corridors of power in the APC, and none could be more assuring than that from President Buhari.
That is why the claim of the APC chairman that his announcement that Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate was cleared by President Buhari cannot be wished away as false, or as a mere propaganda.
The seeming backtracking of Buhari may have been as a result of the pushback from other interests in the party, especially that of the Northern APC governors who endorsed a power shift to the South and insisted on this openly even after the announcement by the APC chairman.
These 13 APC Northern governors this Monday again publicly reconfirmed their endorsement for the choice of a Southerner as the APC flag bearer for the presidential election.
Following this open declaration of disagreement and perhaps signaling readiness to battle with the president, Buhari may have been left with no other choice than to concede to a democratic process.
This could be particularly because, an election still presents him an alternative option that may still allow him room to have his way instead of insisting on a consensus option of a Northern candidate, which has turned out to be very explosive.
Eventually 14 aspirants are currently in the race for the APC ticket. These candidates are currently awaiting their fate as the delegates match out to cast their votes for the choice candidate at the Eagle convention ground.
They candidates include – Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajuba, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mr Ahmed Rufai, Sen. Rochas Okorocha, Mr Jack Rich, Gov. Ben Ayade, Gov. David Umuahi, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Sen. Ahmed Yarima, Dr Ahmed Lawal, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Gov. Yahaya Bello and Mr Ogbonnaya Onu.
Nine aspirants had earlier withdrawn from the race including Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohnenye, Dr Felix Nicholas, former Gov. Godswill Akpabio, former Gov. Ibikunle Amosun, former Speaker Dimeji Bankole, Sen. Ajayi Boroffice, Gov. Muhammad Badaru, Sen. Ken Nnamani and Gov. Kayode Fayemi.
Some of the aspirants who already withdrew from the race were however, recalled back to openly declare their support for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, while addressing the party delegates.
