. 4 Govs, 2 Ex-Govs, 3 Senators Jostle for VP Ticket!
. Atiku, Tinubu Renew Talks, May Rev Up Yar’Adua’s Structure
By Hamilton Nwosa (Head, The New Diplomat Poll Tracking Desk)
With just a few days to 2020, the race for 2023 presidential elections has assumed high velocity as top brass and strategic political apparatchiks in the two major political parties, namely the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) are currently pondering ceding the Presidential tickets to North-East geo-political zone. The North East geo-political zone is made up of the following states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
Sources confided in The New Diplomat that as at today, key players in both the PDP and APC are seriously weighing the option of a North-East Presidential ticket to be complemented with vice presidential running mates from the South, a development that has reportedly open up an intense jostle and fierce battle among political gladiators from the South. Among those in the APC jostling for the VP slot are two serving state governors, two former governors, three senators, and two ministers in the current Buhari administration.
The New Diplomat investigations reveal that the contemplation within the key top echelon of the APC to field a serving governor from the North-East who is currently on his first term but said to have “an excellent, robust and unblemished credentials that would resonate perfectly well with both domestic and international stakeholders,” stems largely from the resolve of APC’s strategic top brass to project a non-controversial, competent and marketable presidential candidate.
Dependable sources hinted that a retired top bureaucrat and one- time chairman of a national political party with strong understanding of the North-South political demographics and dynamics has been reportedly saddled with an initial task of preparing preliminary leg works on this option. Should this happen, as being pondered, this reality leaves a horde of presidential hopefuls from the South, including a former Lagos State governor and a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu shut out of the political equation.
It was further gathered at the weekend that in a bid to avoid being completely throttled out of the presidential race, Tinubu is reported to have commenced what insiders call “exploratory talks” with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The discussions are said to revolve around the prospects of revving up the old political structure of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua that is currently scattered across the country with members interspersed in various parties.
Both Atiku and Tinubu were late Gen Yar’Adua’s political allies in the 1990s. While Atiku was also the late General’s business partner at Nicotes which metamorphosed into Intels, Tinubu was the late General’s political follower who was handed over Lagos East Senatorial ticket on a platter of gold in 1992, actively supported by old political Generals like Chief Dapo Sarumi and Chief Yomi Edu, son of legendary business mogul, Chief SL Edu, the second Nigerian, after Late Emeka Ojukwu’s father, Sir Lious Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to own a house in elite Ikoyi, Lagos.
Though it is not yet clear what the central focus of Atiku and Tinubu’s discussions are but sources hinted that “ it is still very exploratory.” Said an insider: “They were products of General Yar’Adua’s political family since their PDM days. So it is natural that they will be exploring political issues. The fact that they belong to two different political parties doesn’t mean they should not be talking as politicians. Is it a crime if they both meet and review the political situation? Their relationship pre-dates their current political leanings. It is however sad that people like Chuba (Late Senate President Chuba Okadigbo) are no more, to add the South-East leg to the table. But discussions are on.” It was gathered that in PDP, two serving state governors( drawn from South-South and South-East), two former state governors, from South -East and South -West are currently hustling for the VP ticket.
This has expectedly accelerated whispering talks about the political demographics of North-South dynamics which favour a North-East presidential candidate in APC as well as PDP. By 2023, President Buhari (NorthWest) would naturally not be on the ballot hence the APC is said to be narrowing its choice to a serving governor from the North-East geo-political zone who is said to enjoy awesome support base, and has “strong credentials that are appealing to both domestic and international stakeholders.” The identity of the serving governor is still being kept under wrap.
In the PDP, there are speculations that Atiku is still strongly favoured to fly the party’s ticket barring changing permutations. Part of the argument, among those pressing for his candidature is that “he is the only one in the PDP today from the North that can defeat APC presidential candidate since Buhari will not be on the ballot.”
It would be recalled that a School of thought has been pushing that since the South has statistically reigned for 13 years in contrast to North’s 11 years ( by 2023 when President Buhari tenure would come to an end), parity and equity demand that North should have a shot at the presidency in 2023 for one term. Though, this appears to have been challenged by proponents of power shift who argue that irrespective of that statistical fact, there is need to have power shift from North to South in line with an unwritten gentleman’s pact, this later view appears not to have sat well with top-ranking rung of both the APC and PDP.
It would be recalled that the following presidential reign has been the trend since 1999: 1.Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2003: South(S\West)) 2. Olusegun Obasanjo (2003-2007:South(S |West)3. Umaru Yar’Adua (2007-2010: North(N|West) 4. Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2011:South(S|South )5. Goodluck Jonathan (2011-2015:South(S|South) 6.Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2019:North(N|West) 7. Muhammadu Buhari (2019-2023:North(N|West).
