Daily Trust – 2015: Anxiety in APC over presidential ticket

The Punch – 2015: Jonathan woos aggrieved APC leaders

Vanguard – 2015: Muslim/Muslim Ticket: APC Govs set for showdown with Buhari, Tinubu 

Sunday Tribune – AHEAD 2015 ELECTIONS: PDP moves for total control of South-West

The Nation – 2015: Plot to dump Sambo as Jonathan’s running mate thickens

on 13 April, 2014

Daily Trust – 2015: Anxiety in APC over presidential ticket
 
From all indications, President Goodluck Jonathan may emerge the sole contender for the PDP presidential ticket in the 2015 election. In the rival APC, it is a different ball game altogether as a legion of aspirants are engaged in a titanic battle for the ticket, leading to intrigues and intricacies  that have  created anxiety over the presidential ticket.
Last week, the All Progressive Party (APC) conducted its ward congresses aimed at electing officials that would lead the opposition party at the ward level. Media reports had indicated that the exercises were either postponed or cancelled in some of the places due to alleged irregularities. It was in apparent reference to the ‘flawed’ APC ward congresses that President Goodluck Jonathan, during the South-East PDP rally at Enugu last Friday, said the PDP was more democratic because it would not cancel ward congresses across the states without considering the wish of its members. After the ward congresses, the APC is expected to move to the next level by conducting its local government and state congresses which are expected to climax into the zonal and national convention, where substantive national executives are expected to emerge.
But in spite of fact that the APC is yet to resolve issues to do its congresses, the scramble for the presidential ticket of the party seems to have begun in earnest, with all the major aspirants engaging in horse-trading and scheming to fly the party’s presidential flag in next year’s presidential election. What seems to have drawn public attention and debate is the touted Muslim-Muslim ticket in which former Head of State and chieftain of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, is said to be planning to pick former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, as his running mate.   
Apart from Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Defence and Kano State Governor, Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos among others are said to be having discussions with their political associates and supporters across the country as possible bearers of the APC presidential ticket in 2015 to slug it out with President Goodluck Jonathan who is likely to fly the ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
 Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, declined comments on who is likely to get the ticket, saying talking about the presidential ticket of the party now amounts to putting the cart before the horse. Speaking on the likelihood of getting a candidate for the party on consensus rather than presidential primaries, and which may go the way of General Buhari, the national publicity secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and chieftain of the APC, Osita Okechukwu said the speculation and reports of who the presidential candidate of the party would be will be a surprise if the formation of APC, in the first instance, is anything to go.
 “The context emanates from the truism that the registration of APC on  July 31, 2013, an outcome of the first consummation of merger of major political parties in the annals of our political history, has set the stage to propel our fledgling democracy to the zenith of liberal democracy. Naturally, pundits and minders of the PDP are speculating and making all manner of permutations on the ticket of the APC, especially when the party draws large followership from the two prominent electoral zones – North-West and South-West.
“There is no day, to the best of my knowledge, that the leadership of the APC met to pencil down any ticket, therefore, the report about General  Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu ticket is mere permutation and speculation. The APC leadership is presently preoccupied with nursing the new baby; a task that is tremendous, for the new baby has many fathers. We cannot dismiss the truth that the duo are the pillars of our great party and Buhari can be dubbed the de facto candidate. However, we have a constitution which stipulates the modalities for the emergence of party executives, councillors, legislators, governors and presidential candidates. At present, consensus and direct primaries are adopted in electing party ward executives,” Okechukwu said.
 He, however, said that Buhari remains a popular candidate due to his wide acceptability and respect among the leadership and followership of APC.  He said: “On pairing with Asiwaju in the presidential ticket, given the toxic nature of the sensibilities surrounding religion, one can say that going by hindsight that what led to the failure of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) alliance prior to 2011 presidential election was the search for Christian pair. With a wider platform one does not see this as a problem now, when we search from South-East, South-West to South-South.”
 Another chieftain of the party and former Deputy National Secretary of the defunct CPC, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said Buhari stands out among those rumoured to be interested in the Presidential ticket of the APC due to the huge followership he enjoys especially in the northern states of the country.
“Remember that General Buhari scored 12 million votes in the 2011 presidential election despite the fact that the election was massively rigged in favour of President Jonathan. I cannot see any other candidate being speculated as capable of holding the North in order to face the PDP. So if the APC makes the mistake of fielding a candidate that will not strike a chord with the huge voting population and the very political conscious masses in the North, then it would be a fundamental mistake that will surely lead to the crushing defeat for the APC in the election by PDP. This is not the time to experiment with political nonentities and untested hands in the presidential race.

The Punch – 2015: Jonathan woos aggrieved APC leaders

President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party have launched a plan to lure prominent members of the country’s biggest opposition party, All Progressives Congress, into the ruling party, SUNDAY PUNCH has authoritatively learnt.

An investigation by our correspondent showed that loyalists to the President had been meeting with leaders of the APC known to be aggrieved with developments in the opposition party.

It was learnt that the ruling party will capitalise on, among other issues, the internal wrangling in the APC over an alleged plan to present a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket under a consensus arrangement for the 2015 election.

SUNDAY PUNCH had exclusively reported on April 6, 2014, that Christian leaders of the APC who were aggrieved with the alleged mono-religious ticket and consensus arrangement had threatened to quit the party, if the national leaders of the party carried out their alleged plan.

Even though the party’s spokesman, Mr. Lai Mohammed, has refuted the claims, its members insist that the hierarchy of the party have concluded plans to field a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, as the party’s presidential candidates through a consensus arrangement. Buhari and Tinubu are Muslims.

Apart from the controversial issue of a Muslim/Muslim ticket, some members of the APC are also dissatisfied with the way they have been ‘sidelined by the party.’ Others also want the party to hold primary elections rather than adopt the consensus model.

Reliable PDP sources, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH, said the PDP and Jonathan’s close aides had been holding a series of meetings with some leaders of the APC, especially those who defected from the ruling party to the opposition party, to seek their return to the ruling party.

Five governors, 37 members of the House of Representatives and 12 senators on the platform of the PDP had defected to the opposition party in 2013. Several other national leaders of the ruling party, including ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had also joined the defection train.

Some of those alleged to be driving the PDP plane are the National Chairman, PDP, Adamu Mu’azu; the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; and the newly appointed Chief of Staff to the President, Gen. Oladehinde Arogbofa (retd.).

Shortly after the report, a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, who is known to be aggrieved with the alleged APC plan, paid a visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday. Fani-Kayode, who is believed to have held a meeting with Jonathan, declined to comment on his reason for the visit.

It was further gathered that another aggrieved senior APC member, Hannatu Musawa, was invited by the Presidency recently.

Her visit was said to have followed her alleged embarrassment by some APC leaders during the party’s national summit on March 6, 2014.

It was learnt that Musawa was billed to deliver a poem at the event but was allegedly cut short midway into her presentation.

When contacted on Friday, Musawa said, “Yes, there have been such  talks but I was not invited by the presidency.”

 A reliable source in the APC who preferred anonymity, said, “Both the Presidency and national leadership of the PDP are going about and holding meetings with leaders of the APC. The belief is that those who are not happy with the developments in the opposition party may consider defection.

“The President’s Chief of Staff, the NSA and the PDP National Chairman are the major leaders of the mobilisation drive.”

The Chairman, Forum of PDP Chairmen in the South-West, Mr. Adebayo Dayo, on Friday, confirmed to our correspondent that the ruling party was discussing with APC leaders and members with a view of luring them to the ruling party.

Dayo, who is the PDP Chairman, Ogun State, said, “You will see what will happen in the next few weeks. We are meeting with APC members and I am sure PDP will become fuller.”

A presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC and Publisher, Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Samuel Nda-Isaiah, also confirmed to our correspondent that efforts were being made to talk some APC leaders back to the PDP.

Nda-Isiah described the differences among APC leaders as “a teething problem of a new party.”

He said, “Yes, they are going round. They are very desperate, after they lost their governors and lawmakers (to the APC). I’m not sure they will come to me.

“They have been trying to lobby Femi Fani-Kayode, a very strong member of the APC. But I know Femi very well, he’ll just be polite. He has taken his stand against ‘back-ballers’; he will not subscribe to such.

“I also know that they invited a female APC leader and I’m sure she’s not going to leave the APC. They are calling other prominent APC members for discussions. They are very desperate and I don’t know how that will make them to win elections. ”

Atiku, also told SUNDAY PUNCH that PDP would fail in seeking his return to the party.

His media aide, Mr. Garba Shehu, said, “Atiku Abubakar is not a candidate for that kind of meeting. There’s absolute, no chance. It’s a zero chance.”

Another APC leader, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, said despite the moves by the ruling party, its members were still defecting to the opposition party.

The lawmaker, who is representing Ondo-North Senatorial District, said, “Five of their governors have come and we are going to get more; 12 of their senators have come, we are going to get more; 37 of the representatives have come, we will still get more.”

Efforts to reach the National Publicity Secretary, PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh and his deputy, Abdullahi Jalo, for comments on Friday proved abortive, as their telephone lines indicated that they were switched off. Text messages sent to them also got no response.

Similarly, efforts to reach Mohammed were not successful. He did not pick calls made to his mobile number on Friday while a test message and electronic message sent to him by our correspondent were not replied.

2015: Muslim/Muslim Ticket: APC Govs set for showdown with Buhari, Tinubu

on April 13, 2014   /   in Headlines 2:54 am   /   Comments

*’Presidency is behind it’

By Jide Ajani

There were very strong indications at the weekend that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors who defected to the All Progressive Congress, APC, are ready to fully engage leaders of their new party, former military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, and former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over the growing suggestion that both men are plotting to contest as presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2015  elections, Sunday Vanguard can reveal.

In addition, information pieced together in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, and Lagos, over the weekend by Sunday Vanguard suggests that the disquiet in the APC over who flies its banner in the 2015 presidential race may not be a mere rumour after all.
The plot to ensure that Buhari and Tinubu both emerge is  thickening.

By the same token, opposition to the scheme heightened at the weekend based on contacts with some  APC  governors.

The other leg of the twist to the emerging katakata in APC is the position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who is said to favour the emergence of Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as the party’s presidential candidate.

Yet, there is the downside of how to convince a few Christian leaders of the APC who are still bemused by the possibility of a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket.

However, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that the whole idea of a Muslim/Muslim ticket is being promoted by the Presidency in order to sow discord in the ranks of the opposition.

Governors Kick
Dependable sources said: “the seed for the emergence of a Muslim/Muslim ticket was sown when the two major promoters of the merger which became the APC (Buhari and Tinubu) signified their intention to run.

“One of the sources, a northern governor told Sunday Vanguard in Abuja, last week: But the realization that there might be a very serious challenge against the candidacy of Buhari created the ground for the proposition of a consensus arrangement”.
That was not all.

Indeed, the consensus arrangement is expected to throw up Buhari as the presidential candidate while Tinubu would be his running mate.

“The electoral calculation has already been concluded and the party leaders are upbeat that they would defeat President Goodluck Jonathan with what they have seen on ground regarding their SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis – this is principally based on the perceived numerical strength of Muslims in the North and South West geo-political zone.

“Let me tell you, to convince them otherwise would be difficult and they believe they can pull it off, especially with the perceived lack luster disposition of President Jonathan”, another leader of the party from the South-west said.

At separate fora with Sunday Vanguard, three state governors told Sunday Vanguard that they would resist that “type of imposition”.

It was gathered that no fewer that three APC governors  are angling to emerge as either  the presidential candidate or running mate for the 2015 election.

Information made available at the weekend suggested that the state governors are in a better position to mobilize supporters at the national convention of the party.

With their numerical advantage, the state governors are mobilising to ensure that they are not made “to appear like stooges”, a source said.

Interestingly, it was learnt that  former President Obasanjo has not hidden his preference for the emergence of  Kwankwaso as presidential candidate of the party.
“He has made it known to a few of his associates”, a source said.

“All these stemmed from the belief at inception that the creation of the APC would pose a very strong, balanced opposition to the PDP and its handling of the nation’s affairs; but it appears that the hopes are being dashed, except, of course, this nonsense is not true”.

Christian Leaders of APC
Apart from the state governors, some  Christian leaders in APC are also frowning at  the purported APC Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket  and “wish that it turns out to be mere rumour”, a former minister said.
In fact, the likes of “Chief Audu Ogbeh, Second Republic Minister of Communication and former National Chairman of PDP, as well as Sam Isa-Ndaiah, publisher of Leadership newspapers, have vowed to resist any such imposition if true and are ready to fight it to the end”.

Presidency  behind purported ticket – APC

However, just as Sunday Vanguard was about to go to press, an APC leader, who did not want to be mentioned. disclosed that “all these misinformation about a Muslim/Muslim ticket is the handiwork of the Presidency”.

“He went on: People in the Presidency have seen how potent an opposition the APC would be; so the only way they can attempt – and I use the word well (attempt) – to try to dampen the enthusiasm of our supporters is by playing the religious  card.

“Between you and I, have you seen Tinubu going from mosque to mosque to worship on Fridays and make a big show of it?  Have you seen General Buhari going from mosque to mosque and making a big show of it?

“It is President Jonathan who is using the church to promote politics.  It is because a section of Nigerians has posed questions, critical questions at that, to the seeming incongruity between Nigeria’s multi-religious status and the President’s public display of faith, that is why the Presidency is now selling this dummy to Nigerians about the APC presenting a Muslim/Muslim ticket”.

AHEAD 2015 ELECTIONS: PDP moves for total control of South-West – Sunday Tribune

Ahead of the decisive 2015 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is said to have resolved to change its fortune in the South-West geopolitical zone by taking control of the zone, as Sunday Tribune gathered that special assignments have been handed over to critical stakeholders for that purpose.

Sunday Tribune findings revealed that in line with the party’s agenda to take over the South-West, a tactics team had undertaken a state by state analysis recently and had submitted its report to party leaders, who have begun to implement the report.

Sources within the party confirmed that the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, was among those given a special assignment in the operation reclaim South-West agenda.

President Goodluck Jonathan and the new PDP Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, as well as other chieftain of the party, have repeatedly on every occasion restated their intention to reclaim the states they lost to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which had merged with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senator Obanikoro was last week sighted in Ondo State, during the bye election in Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency seat which became vacant last year with the death of Hon. Rapheal Nomiye. A source said that the former senator was in town as part of his new assignment in respect of the South-West agenda.

Also last week, the Senator was in the news for the role he played in the stoppage of a housing project being constructed by the government of Lagos State around the Third Mainland Bridge on a disputed land between the Federal Government and the state government. The minister had claimed that the project did not secure the nod of the National Inland Waterways Authority.

But sources said the explanation given by the minister was only a tip of the iceberg. For one, it was said, that the FG, which had always extended the hand of fellowship to hostile opposition states, was not willing to condone what it saw as narrow-mindedness of leaders of those states.

“Besides, look at what these state leaders call achievements. There are allegations of inflated contracts, among others. They will use federal resources to execute what they called urban renewal. We are not ready for such. We believe we must rescue South-West states”, a source explained.

The source went on to reel off the high level of indebtedness of all the states under APC, saying the South-West is in trouble.

“From the reports available to us, South-West is in serious trouble because of the huge debt burden they are piling on it. We have spoken to all right-thinking people in the region and they agreed with us,” he said, adding that the coming elections in Ekiti and Osun states would define the future of the South-West.

But the ambition of the PDP might be a pipe dream if the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola’s recent statement that the PDP lacked the capacity and political strength to defeat him is anything to go by.

 Aregbesola, following his adoption as the standard-bearer of the APC in the state for the August 9, 2014 gubernatorial election, on Saturday, took on the PDP and its chairman for insinuating that they would take over Osun State.

He berated the PDP for allegedly confining Nigerians to deep pains, abject poverty, misery and hopelessness since the party took over the reins of power since 1999 at the federal level.

Aregbesola, who spoke at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, said: “It is extremely difficult and impossible for the PDP to defeat or remove me from office. They lacked the capacity to do it. We would match them up in all ramifications”.

“The PDP’s definition of power is brute force and if they decide to fight in the coming election, we would destroy them gently”.

Earlier, in his remark, Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai said that the APC would implement O’Meal, O’YES and other programmes of Aregbesola at the federal level if the party wins the presidential election in 2015.

Across the 323 wards in the state, 355,729 members registered to adopt Aregbesola, while 269,631 voted for him, culminating in his endorsement for second term in office in the governorship primary organised at the ward, local and state level.

Obanikoro had arrived Ondo State in company of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman Amnesty Committee, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, was quoted as saying that he was in town to support the PDP.

The minister was quoted as saying: “This election is not just a by-election, a representative at the national level is a serious position and don’t forget that the general election is less than a year away so any election that comes now we have to take it serious because there is need to ensure that the president comes back for the continuation of his transformation agenda.”

Sources confirmed that the minister might have been given the role of an enforcer in the zone to ensure discipline and coordination, which have been lacking in some state chapters.

Findings further showed that the issue of Oyo State has been of concern to the leaders of the party at recent meetings, but a source said that a surgical operation is underway to straighten things in the state.

 “In 2011, the indiscipline among some leaders of the PDP in Oyo State robbed us of the state. They actually collaborated and sponsored the governorship election of the opposition. Right now the wheat is being separated from the chaff,” the source said.

The Nation – 2015: Plot to dump Sambo as Jonathan’s running mate thickens

•Four serving governors favoured

The plot to dump Vice President Namadi Sambo as running mate to President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of next year’s election is far from being over, according to indications last night.

The fresh plot is the brainchild of some political heavyweights from the North who believe that for the PDP to make the desired impact in that part of the country in the election, it must have a presidential running mate that is widely acceptable and politically savvy across the region.

Sambo, in their view, is too far removed from the realities of the politics of the region and therefore incapable of either addressing the issues or galvanising support for Jonathan ahead of the 2015 election.

Although the president is yet to publicly announce his intention to seek re-election, political watchers believe that his political machinery is already in place as he meets with different political interests across the nation on a regular basis.

A reliable source said in Abuja that the decision to drop Sambo was reached at a high level meeting and that Jonathan’s body language on the proposals must have influenced the decision of two of the PDP governors, who are at loggerheads with the President, to drop the idea of joining the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

Accordingly, four governors were pencilled down to replace Sambo.

These are Aliyu Babangida of Niger State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina.

Some of the governors had, in the past, dissociated themselves from the alleged plot to replace Sambo who was the governor of Kaduna before he was picked by Jonathan as vice president after the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The source said the political heavyweights behind the plot include some retired but influential Army generals from the region, emirs and an ex-president who is pushing for Lamido.

The source said: “Don’t be deceived by the denials and counter-denials. Would you have expected them to publicly accept the plot? What I know is that these persons have been meeting and Sambo might as well be on his last tour of duty as vice president unless something drastically changes the run of event.

“I can tell you that the strategic choice by Aliyu and Lamido to remain with the PDP was due to the promise extracted by some political heavyweights in the party to make one of them, preferably Lamido who is considered to be highly disciplined and with impressive political savvy in the North, to be nominated as vice president after Sambo has failed to command the kind of respect expected of anyone in that position in the North.”

Asked if the president would not be inflicting a grave injustice on his loyal deputy should he accept the suggestion, the source said the reality is that the president would have to analyse the options before him and take a decision that would positively affect his future.

“First, it was understood that the failure to bring the Boko Haram menace to an end or even try to talk to its leadership to stop the carnage and come to the roundtable for a peace talk was due to the fact that most persons in the North still do not recognise Sambo as a Northern leader. They see him as a businessman who knows little or nothing about the politics of his domain.

“What if I told you that Shema is also scheming to be vice president in spite of his repeated denials and there is a belief that former President Ibrahim Babangida might not support Babangida Aliyu as vice president due to some reasons?”

It was gathered that the political heavyweights rooting for a Lamido vice presidential ticket have been holding talks with Jonathan and may soon reach an agreement that would seriously endanger the political fortunes of Sambo in 2015.

The source said former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s sudden silence on the Jonathan presidency might not be unconnected with how far the political discourse has gone.

It is believed that Lamido should be able to garner support to match whatever threat the Buhari or APC strategy in the North might engender.

However, it was learnt that Sambo is not taking the matter lying low as he was said to have been meeting with some of the northern governors excluding those interested in his seat, in order to garner support for his candidacy.