President Muhammadu Buhari with APC Governors
Ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention, President Muhammadu Buhari could have directed all his backers to shut ranks in selecting the following set of leaders to handle the party.
Based on Buhari’s recommendation, it was learnt on Wednesday, APC governors and a few high leaders of the party, who're pro-Buhari, have been making an attempt to work out a harmonised or unity record.
Former Edo State Governor Oserheimen Osunbor’s sudden choice to run for National Chairman seems to have induced some anxiousness in Buhari’s camp.
Osunbor will vie for the workplace with ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole and ex-Governor Clement Ebri.
The three chairmanship aspirants had undergone screening with others amid fears that Osunbor was drafted by some members of a “third force” within the party.
The Screening Committee will submit its closing report back to the National Convention Committee subsequent week.
As said by sources, who pleaded to not be named, the President requested APC governors on Tuesday evening in Abuja to make sure a rancour-free National Convention on June 23.
The Nation learnt that as a part of steps to have a smoother conference, some governors and high leaders of the party (loyal to Buhari) had been considering a harmonised record or a unity record in step with the want of the President.
The recourse to a harmonised record was meant to avert a repeat of the occasions which led to the selection of principal officers of the party.
The silence of the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) caucus within the party is claimed to have made Buhari’s supporters to turn out to be circumspect prior to now few days.
Buhari is likely to be concerned on the consensus constructed by the governors and party leaders.
There are three teams within the party pledging to work for Buhari.
But the three teams had been working at cross-purposes and there have been fears within the presidency that going into the conference in a disunited type is likely to be harmful.
The three teams are:
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the reformists led by those that facilitated the coalition of events into APC;
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the group mentioned to be headed by a governor;
Three) and one other set of eight governors who've the backing of 5 APC state chapters within the South-South and 4 within the South-East.
A source mentioned: “I believe the following few days will likely be dedicated to extra horse-trading by governors and a few leaders of the party.
“The actual hazard is that with out a harmonised record, the result of the conference may be hijacked by a third pressure within the party. For some workplaces, now we have as many as seven or eight candidates. The state of affairs is polluted by this third pressure.
“So far, two governors have not been forthcoming on where they are headed at the convention. They have been attending meetings to feel the pulse of Buhari’s supporters.”
The Chairman of the National Convention Committee, Governor Abubakar Badaru, is claimed to have proposed that governors and party leaders ought to meet on the zonal stage to reach at a consensus on candidates.
Despite of the President’s anointing of Oshiomhole, some governors and party leaders are shocked that Ebri and Osunbor have thrown their hats into the ring.
A party source mentioned: “Osunbor collected chairmanship type on the final minutes and he crammed it instantly. We are suspecting that a third pressure within the party is behind him as a result of the Edo State chapter had already endorsed Oshiomhole. The identical Osunbor was defeated by Oshiomhole on the governorship ballot in 2007. There have to be extra to his ambition.
“But so far, Oshiomhole is still the leading candidate. On Tuesday, the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the first Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande and seven governors paid a solidarity visit to Oshiomhole at his campaign office in Abuja.”