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| L-R: Kwankwaso and Buhari |
Efforts
by stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress, APC to forge a consensus
between two of the major presidential aspirants in the party, Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari and Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso have failed.
Both men
in an apparent determination to slug it out have now formally scheduled dates
to declare their aspirations.
Reflective
of their efforts for political supremacy, the associates of both men were last
night engaged in a war of words on who was better placed to win the presidential
ticket of the party.
Buhari is
to declare for the contest on Wednesday, October 15, while Governor Kwankwanso
has himself scheduled his declaration for October 23, 2014.
Kwankwaso’s
decision to go public with his bid, it was learnt, was sequel to the failed
effort to forge a consensus deal between him and Buhari. Both men are
presently, the two major aspirants from the Northwest geopolitical zone of the
country.
The
development has led to a serious division among APC supporters in the zone over
who should fly the flag of the party in the coming election.
Buhari is
mainly supported by the masses but Kwankwanso is believed to have the support
of government officials and political office holders especially in Kano State.
Former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Leadership Newspaper publisher, Sam
Nda-Isaiah are the two other major contenders remaining in the north following
yesterday’s formal declaration by Senator Bukola Saraki to withdraw himself
from the contest. Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State is also known to be
testing the waters for a possible bid.
While
Kwamkwaso’s supporters are making a case for a young blood to take a shot at
the presidency, Buhari’s followers advance political maturity, popularity and
experience as factors that cannot be ignored.
Speaking
yesterday on Kwakwanso’s plans for the presidential race, an associate and
member of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the APC, Chief Olisameka Akamukali said
that baring any unforeseen circumstances, that Kwankwanso would unveil his presidential
campaign on October 23.
Akamukali,
a former chairman of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP in Delta State said that
Governor Kwankwaso had consulted widely concerning his ambition even as he said
that Buhari needed to give a younger person a chance to contest the presidency.
“Now in
as much as we agree that Buhari is a man of integrity but you will also agree
with me that age is not on his side,” he said.
His claim
was immediately dismissed by a senior official of the party also sympathetic to
the Buhari campaign who described Kwankwanso’s bid as a clownish act. He said
that Buhari would defeat the Kano governor even in Kano.
“Yes, I
know that Kwankwanso can get a huge pile of the government delegates from Kano
but that is the much he can get. What of the other states or is he relying only
on Kano?”
“Or have
you forgotten in 2011 that Buhari defeated the former governor of Kano, Ibrahim
Shekarau even in Kano? The Buhari campaign is a brand, watch out and see what
we are going to do at the declaration on Wednesday,” the official said.
Continuing,
the Buhari associate wondered why Kwankwanso mobilises his Kano based
supporters anytime he goes out of the state, saying that on the contrary that
Buhari has his supporters all over the country and does not need to carry
supporters along to show his political viability.” “You know the fact that he
has control of one big state does not mean that he is popular outside the
state,” the Buhari man said.
But
asserting the viability of Kwankwanso over Buhari, Akamukali said:
“The
issue of anointing candidates for elections has been rejected by the APC and
that is why the party is insisting that there shall be transparent primaries.
The fears of some of the aspirants may be due to the fact of their previous
experience where they never faced competitive primaries to emerge as party
candidate. That is why such people are pushing for consensus.
“The
generality of the party is saying no, let us do things differently from what
the PDP are doing. We must have a transparent primary. I can tell you that
Kwakwanso has built a lot of bridges across the political divide. Remember, he
came into the House of Representatives as a member of then Social Democratic
Party (SDP) in 1991 and became Deputy Speaker.”
According
to Akamukali, one factor that gives Kwankwaso an edge over other aspirants was
his firm control of APC structures in his state.
“One
other factor that is considered additional strength to the Kano governor is
that whereas he has solid home base support, his co-contestants, like Atiku and
Buhari could not boast of being in control of the structures of the party in
their home states.
“From the
angle of qualification, the constitution is very clear on this, a man who has a
doctorate in Engineering, academically is qualified, a man who has not been
convicted by any competent court, a man whom the EFCC and other Federal
Government anti graft agencies have investigated and nothing was found on him
is eminently qualified to contest for the president of the country, “ he
stated.
Vanguard
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