Loyalists of Muhammadu Buhari say he has no absolute control over the choice of his running mate because the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has ruled that it is its responsibility to determine who pairs with him in the presidential race.
TheNiche learnt on Friday, December 12 that the chances of former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, are very high, as the APC leadership has narrowed its choice to him.
This time, Buhari does not have the luxury he had in 2011 when he turned down the proposal by the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which wanted an alliance with his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) on the condition that he replaced his running mate, Tunde Bakare, with an ACN member.
Buhari’s spokesperson, Rotimi Fashakin, said the APC “will decide who becomes the VP candidate. The General will have an input, but the party will have a lot of input too because there are many things that must be taken into consideration for the choice of the running mate.”
Buhari’s confidant, former Petroleum Minister, Tam David-West, dismissed reports that Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has been anointed by the party to be Buhari’s running mate.
“That is not true. If it were the case, I would have known,” declared David-West, who is also Amaechi’s close associate.
He added: “The running mate can add value to the ticket but it is not the decisive factor. It is the other way round. It is the presidential candidate that carries the running mate along.
“God who has given him the ticket, we are praying to the same God to, in His infinite wisdom, direct him and the party to get a running mate who will be complementary to him.
“What happened is beyond human understanding. I listened to Doyin Okupe, he is not ashamed. Okupe said APC cannot stand, that it will scatter.
“But God has brought us this far, and He will not leave us alone. He would choose a running mate for Buhari.
“The vote of Atiku, Kwankwaso, Okorocha and Nda-Isaiah is less than Buhari’s own. All their votes are 2,562. Buhari has 3,430.”
TheNiche learnt that since the party ended its convention on Thursday, December 11, different interest groups in the party have been struggling to produce his running mate.
The camp of Bola Tinubu is said to be the most eager to field its own man, because the ACN, one of the parties that merged to form the APC, was led by him.
By virtue of its electoral strength when the APC was formed last year, the ACN is regarded as a senior member in the merger that include the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The argument for the vice presidential slot from the ACN camp is said to hinge on the fact that the president has emerged from the CPC.
If that happens, Buhari’s running mate is likely to come from the South West.
Some names thrown up in the zone include Yemi Osinbajo, former Lagos State Attorney General, and Kayode Fayemi, former Ekiti State Governor.
The choice of Fayemi, a source in APC said, is strategic because the South West where he comes from, has a huge voting population and would be persuaded to vote for the party if one of their own is the VP.
According to the source, the South East is not in contention for the slot because the party leadership thinks it does not have a large following in the region.
But a chieftain of APC, Osita Okechukwu, told TheNiche that “the party is the one to decide who will be the vice president. The General (Buhari) has left that to the party.”
Asked whether there is a possibility of the slot going to the South East, he said: “We have eligible people in the South East. We have Rochas Okorochas, Chris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu, and others.
“It they give it to the South East, I will be the happiest man.”
