After Tuesday’s meeting with state governors in the ruling All Progressives Congress, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to host the Presidential aspirants of the APC on Saturday.
Buhari had sought the support of the governors in selecting a successor to fly the flag of the APC in next year’s Presidential election.
Local reports say Buhari will meet with the ‘safe list’ of the APC which had trended on Saturday, after the party disqualified 10 aspirants and cleared 13 including some of the party’s top stalwarts.
The Safe List: Who is in?
The list of the cleared Presidential aspirants by the party’s screening committee includes regular suspects and some surprising names.
Recall that John Oyegun, who led the committee had stated that the number of clear aspirants had to be extended as some youths showed good understanding of Nigeria’s problems and capacity to lead.
The clearedhttps://newscentral.africa/2022/06/03/apc-clears-13-presidential-hopefuls-disqualifies-10/amp/ aspirants for Monday’s primary election include former state governors, current governors, lawmakers and members of Nigeria’s executive council.
The cleared aspirants are; Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Emeka Nwajiuba, Mr Tein Jack-Rich, Ogbonnaya Onu, Ibikunle Amosun, David Umahi, Godswill Akpabio, Kayode Fayemi and Rotimi Amaechi.
Others include Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and the National Leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Abeokuta Speech: Who said what?
In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Thursday, Presidential aspirant and one of the most talked-about names in the country at the moment, Tinubu made remarks that have been analysed in different lights so far.
He told Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun that he’d never have become Governor without his support and in what has been criticised by some chieftains of the party, he also said the President, Buhari would never have become President without his help.
Tinubu’s desire to become President has been painted as “entitlement” by some people while others have said he is deserving of Nigeria’s biggest political seat.
Buhari is expected to announce his successor today at the meeting or give an idea of who his successor will be with political analysts making various suggestions of who it is.
The meeting is coming on the back of a recommendation from the Oyegun-led committee.
Oyegun had said while delivering his report to the party’s National Working Committee that 99% of the aspirants accepted a consensus candidate but one of them refused and said he will only accept if he is the candidate.
Atiku’s Emergence As PDP Candidate: Looking Before The Leap
The emergence of Atiku Abubakar in the PDP may also be changing calculations within the APC as he’s considered a formidable candidate having closely fought the President in an election in 2019.
Some stalwarts within the APC have said the party needs a candidate who has national political clout to run the race as Atiku is a force too.
Other considerations are also believed to be the growing popularity of Peter Obi, who was last week announced as the candidate of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso, Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).