Uduegbunam ChukwujamaLess than 24 hours to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, Progressive Governors have mounted pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party to ensure that one of its members is given the ticket to fly the party’s flag in the 2023 Presidential election.
The governors’ insistence on producing the presidential candidate of the APC came on the heels of concerted efforts by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State governor, and Nigeria’s incumbent Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo to secure the party’s ticket for the crucial next year’s election which the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has also vowed to win.
Both aspirants – Tinubu and Osinbajo – had separately met with the governors to solicit their support for the presidential ticket in 2023.
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Reliable information reaching Prime Business Africa indicates that the governors’ collective demand, which subsisted even before the presidential declarations by Tinubu and Osinbajo, was renewed shortly after the APC’s March 26 National Convention and has just been reiterated to President Buhari and the APC leadership in the wake of tomorrow’s (April 20) NEC meeting as precursor to implementing the party’s Timetable for the 2023 elections.
President Buhari, sources within the Presidency and the APC said, is now under intense pressure, as governors are said to be powerful and critical to not only winning party primary elections but also remain chief stakeholders in mobilising support for main election victory.
‘‘Mr President and the party are definitely going to listen to the Progressive Governors’ demand because they are the ones who actually hold the party’s structure across the states and local governments. They also have tremendous influence over Senators and House of Representatives members from their respective states when it comes to producing the party candidate,’’ an APC leader from North-East geo-political zone told Prime Business Africa on Tuesday.
Recall that Prime Business Africa had authoritatively reported how the progressive governors were instrumental to moving the hand of the president on the controversial direct primary election provision in the Electoral Amendment Bill which was to become a necessity for nominating party candidates at all levels.
READ ALSO: Electoral Act: Buhari Declines Assent Over ‘N500B’ Direct Primary Costs
The Progressive (APC) Governors, according to the report, had asked the president to reject the first Electoral Act amendment as submitted by the National Assembly until the provision for direct primaries, which according to them would be overly expensive at a cost of about N500 billion and was capable of dismembering the ruling party.
The president agreed to the governors’ demand to reject the Electoral Bill after reportedly consulting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami.
Also in the list of the progressive governors’ successes in having their way with Mr President is their choice of Abdullahi Adamu as chairman of the party. Prime Business Africa had exclusively reported that the APC governors had, amid battle for the soul of the ruling party, successfully outwitted ‘Buhari’s men’ and Bola Tinubu, who ultimately lost the battle to influence the outcomes in the so-called ‘Unity List’ for the March 26, 2022 National Convention.
READ ALSO: APC Convention: How Buhari’s Men, Tinubu Lost On Intrigues
‘‘Now that the governors are insisting that one of them must be given the ticket, I’m sure they will have their way as always,’’ an impeccable source in one of the Northern states told Prime Business Africa on Monday, April 18, 2022.
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