APC Presidential Ticket Contest: DRAMA, DEFTNESS, DECEIT

Drama, deceit, doublespeak, skullduggery, cockiness and sweet promises – all elements of the campaign by politicians have been on display as the leading aspirants for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress continue to market themselves to delegates that will decide which among them will fly the party’s flag in the 2023 general election.

The drama and cockiness were on display when former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi figuratively dared the lion in his den when he took his campaign to Kogi, the state of one of his rivals for the presidential ticket, Governor Yahaya Bello last Friday.

Addressing the APC delegates in Lokoja, the state capital, Amaechi who was received by Bello’s deputy, Edward Onoja had tried to convince them why they should dump their governor, who incidentally is popularly known as White Lion for him.

READ ALSO: I’ll win APC Presidential ticket, Tinubu boasts

The former minister told the delegates that he is much older, stronger, more experienced and as such, more equipped for the task of rescuing Nigeria and steering it to greatness for the good of all citizens. He reeled out his ‘political curriculum vitae’ to back up his assertion. “I am more experienced because I became a governor at age 32 and minister at 50. Twice I was chairman of the Speakers Forum and twice Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum.  This has placed me above Bello and others as the most experienced and qualified to be president of Nigeria,” Amaechi asserted.

The former Rivers State governor, who is the first of the 25 APC aspirants to visit Kogi added a tinge of cockiness to his marketing when he declared that he has already become the leading presidential aspirant of the party: “This is the 28th state I will be visiting. I can no longer be called one of the APC aspirants because I have become the leading aspirant.”

He had also promised to carry everybody along by consulting party members before appointing his ministers. In his response, Onoja was unequivocal in his assertion that the loyalty of Kogi delegates is to their governor. “Kogi is a state of loyalty. Our loyalty at the Federal level is 100 per cent for President Muhammed Buhari, at the state level, we are 100 per cent for our principal, Governor Yahaya Bello,” said the deputy governor. “The governor is young and experienced enough to be the president of Nigeria. There is nothing we can do. We are too loyal as a state and our votes are for one person only – which is Governor Yahaya Bello,” he added.

‘Lion of Ubima’ on Campaign Rampage

So, did Amaechi go away from Kogi with his tails between his legs? It is doubtful. Indeed, the drama in Kogi is just another demonstration of the gung ho approach to the contest for the presidential ticket of the APC that the former governor had adopted since he signified interest in the 2023 presidential race.

He had indicated that he is ready to go the whole hog by resigning his position as a minister, unlike some of his colleagues who were afraid to embrace uncertainty for certainty and by dropping their bid to quit the cabinet even after attending the valedictory session at the Aso Rock presidential villa.

Amaechi has lived up to his popular appellation as ‘Lion of Ubima,’ as his admirers fondly call him by courageously seeking the support of delegates even at the strongholds of the other leading aspirants of the party.

This includes the Southwest where former governor Bola Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the other front runners for the APC presidential ticket also hail from.

Just like he did in Lokoja, he has put his age, experience in government, commitment to Buhari’s administration’s policies in the transport sector and his role in managing the successful presidential campaign of APC in 2015 and 2019 among others on the table as the reasons why he deserves the presidential ticket of the ruling party.

He had also tailored his messages to delegates to address specific challenges as well as the contributions of his ministry to each specific state he visited.  Speaking during his consultative meeting with the governor and delegates of the APC in Niger last Thursday for instance, Amaechi noted that he is aware of the security challenges being faced by the state and he is ready to tackle them just as he did when he was the governor of Rivers State.

He also noted that as Minister of Transportation, he ensured the award of the contract for Baro (Port) as well as the contract for a rail line to go from Baro to Minna for Niger State. Compared to other aspirants, the former governor said he is a better-experienced politician and a people person. “Another difference between me and them is that I am a politician, they’re not. The difference is that I can walk to you and I’ll talk, and discuss with you. I can connect easily with people. I wasn’t born into a rich family. My father was a poor man, the only English my mother knows how to speak is pidgin English. I ate garri three times a day, and I still eat garri three times a day till today, so I know poverty”, he said.

He also argued that the people of the North and all Nigerians should stand by him, as he did for the country when he supported the emergence of President Buhari, without looking at whether he comes from the North or South.

Analysts believe that Amaechi has been able to pivot himself among three top contenders for the presidential ticket of APC since he joined the race. His status as an aspirant has especially been boosted in the Northern part of the country where he has campaigned vigorously in the past few weeks.

Analysts also believed that Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s narration about the financial contribution of the former Rivers governor to help the defunct CPC hold its national convention even as a member of PDP in 2011 and contributions to the victory of APC in 2015 as well as the claim that the former minister is loved by Buhari had also helped in boosting the status of Amaechi among the 25 APC contenders.

“Amaechi is the game-changer. Amaechi is from Rivers State, Southsouth, where the then incumbent president Jonathan is from. He sacrificed and moved to our party. That’s part of the reason President Buhari loves minister Rotimi Amaechi, till tomorrow,” El-Rufai said during the presidential aspirant’s consultations with delegates in Kaduna.

Significantly, Jigawa governor, Badaru Abubakar, one of the late entrants to the contest for the APC presidential ticket had also indicated his readiness to dump his ambition in support of Amaechi.

“One thing I respect about my big brother and friend (Amaechi) is that what you see is what you get. He doesn’t lie, he doesn’t pretend. He says it straight, and that’s the quality of leaders this country needs. So, Jigawa delegates, when you think of me, think of Amaechi too. I can tell you, there is no contest. On that day, either I run or he runs. But the two of us will never run (against each other),” Badaru said during the visit of the former Rivers Governor to Jigawa to seek the support of delegates in the state.

Osinbajo’s Bid To Continue In Aso Rock

Just like with Amaechi in Kogi, the drama was also at play when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo met delegates of the ruling party in Osun State to seek their support ahead of the party’s presidential primary election last Friday.

But as if to tell the vice president that his efforts in seeking their support for his presidential aspiration will eventually come to nought, some of the delegates had worn caps embroidered with Tinubu’s broken shackle insignia to the meeting.

Some commentators had noted that it will be aiming too far for the Vice President to expect support from Osun now being governed by Gboyega Oyetola who is considered a loyalist and even a cousin of Tinubu, one of his rivals for the presidential ticket.

Nevertheless, the vice president did not mince words in canvassing the support of the party members for his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the APC’s primary slated for May 29.

Just like he had done in other states visited, the vice president told the delegates that he has been equipped to become Nigeria’s next president with the experience garnered in the presidential villa as the number two man to President Buhari in the past seven years.

After the meeting with the delegates behind closed doors,  the vice-president reiterated to journalists that he has all that is required in terms of the knowledge and experience to be Nigeria’s next president.

“I pushed myself forward for the position of president of this country because I had served for seven years as vice-president. Within those seven years, I served President Muhammadu Buhari faithfully and he had responded by ensuring that I see everything that I needed to see in government. I even acted as acting president several times. Within that period, there is nothing that is required by way of knowledge or experience to govern a country as diverse and complex as Nigeria that I have not come across,” the vice-president said while acknowledging that one of the biggest challenges confronting the country at the moment is insecurity.

But he assured that he will hit the ground running on his first day at the job if he is elected in 2023. “I don’t have to look for any fact because I am already equipped for the position. If anybody gets to government at state level without any experience, it will take him more than one-and-a-half years to get his bearing. If such a person gets to the federal level, it will take him more than two years to understand the complexity. But as for me, I can hit the ground running from day one because I have the required experience,” he said.

As of the time of writing this story last week, the vice-president has met delegates in 24 states and the FCT.

The consultations with APC stakeholders involved town hall-style interactive sessions featuring question-and-answers, while some governors have also declared support for the vice-president’s presidential ambition. “The vice-president has been coming to the state as vice-president; but this time around, he has come to interact with our delegates, preparatory to the primaries of our ruling party, the APC, and it is a convention that will produce him, by the Grace of God, as the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Governor Inuwa Yahaya said during Osinbajo’s visit to meet delegates in Gombe.

Tinubu’s Bullish Pursuit of Life-long Ambition

Equally aggressive in the marketing of his ambition across the country is Tinubu who was in Kano last Thursday. His visit came days after Osinbajo and Amaechi visited the state to also woo the delegates.

But the delegates and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had demonstrated that they have a special love for Tinubu by putting on the caps associated with him.

Tinubu, ever bullish about his ambition to succeed President Buhari had canvassed support for his presidential ambition touting himself as the best among all the aspirants. “I hereby appeal to you to support my presidential ambition by voting for me to clinch the party’s ticket at the forthcoming primary election. Today is the day I have come to ask for your support to be president of Nigeria. You can put me there with your votes. I believe in myself, I’m smart,  intelligent and courageous, don’t make mistake, choose wisely, choose me, I beg you and you will never regret supporting me,” he told the delegates.

He also promised to tackle insecurity, revamp the economy, and provide good roads to enable farmers to bring their produce to the markets if elected. He promised to develop and make the agricultural sector more lucrative, as well as ensure the formation of a commodity exchange mechanism, which, he said, the country needs.

In response, Ganduje, said delegates will use the convention of the party to pay back Tinubu, who, he said, has worked assiduously for the growth of the APC. He added that Tinubu is a candidate who understands the challenges of the nation and who is experienced enough to reposition the country.

Speaking in the same vein, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, Kano APC chairman, commended Tinubu for the role he played in developing Lagos and urged him to replicate the same in the country.

Crowded Field Of Aspirants

Tinubu, Osinbajo and Amaechi, as confirmed by National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka last week, were among the 28 aspirants who returned their presidential nomination forms to the party at the set deadline. However,  as it stands till last weekend, 23 aspirants will be on the ballot for the contest of presidential ticket as the Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva and the President of African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina had indicated that they are no longer interested in seeking for the presidential ticket.

Aside from Tinubu, Osinbajo and Amaechi, the other aspirants in the race for the presidential ticket include former minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio; former minister of science, technology and innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha and former Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun. Also in the contest for the APC presidential forms are Pastor Tunde Bakare; Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dave Umahi; Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; former minister of state, education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Senate president, Ken Nnamani; Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello; Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar and former Zamfara State governor, Ahmed Yerima.

The others are Senator Ajayi Borroffice; the only female aspirant, Uju Kennedy Ohnenye; Pastor Nicholas Felix Nwagbo; former speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan; former minister of information, Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu and Tein Jack Rich. Tinubu, Osinbajo and Amaechi have been the most prominent aspirants for the APC presidential ticket.

But just like the trio, Governor Fayemi has also been going around the country to sell his ambition to the delegates.

Late last week, Senate President Ahmed Lawan and former governor Ibikunle Amosun joined the campaign trail as they were in Katsina and Jigawa States respectively where they met party delegates.

However, some of the other aspirants like the Kogi governor and Ben Ayade seem to be concentrating more on reaching delegates through television commercials.

Sources told this newspaper that some of the aspirants may have been hampered by logistics, especially the cost of hiring private jets for such round the country trips.

This aside, it is doubtful if some of the aspirants like Nicholas Felix Nwagbo,  Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu, Tein Jack Rich Kennedy Ohnenye have relationships with the APC chapters in their states let alone at the national level who can facilitate their meetings with delegates if they decide to go on such cross-country jaunts to seek for delegates’ votes.

Lawan and Zoning Permutations

Lawan’s ambition as with that of Badaru is being driven by the insistence of APC that it has not zoned its presidential ticket to any zone of the country, contrary to the belief of members of the party from the South.

The Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu had in some interviews before assuming leadership of the party expressed his opposition to zoning. However, during his visit to the presidential villa about a month ago, he told journalists that the party is yet to decide on the issue of zoning. Last week, the spokesperson of APC further asserted that the party has not decided on where to zone its presidential ticket following speculations that the party has zoned the ticket to the Northeast where the Senate President is from.

Like the Kogi governor from Northcentral, supporters of the Senate president are arguing that his part of the country has not produced a Nigerian president, especially since the country’s return to democracy.

Aside from this, some leaders of the party are also arguing that if the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP decides to give its presidential ticket to a Northerner, APC cannot afford to do otherwise if it is interested in retaining the presidency in 2023.

This, it was gathered, is why Lawan joined Tinubu, Osinbajo and Amaechi as the frontrunners for the APC ticket. But some governors from the North, including Ganduje and El-Rufai, had as late as last week insisted that the APC will zone its presidential ticket to the South.

Then, there is also the question of which part of the South should the ticket go to if APC leaders eventually give in to the demand? The belief is that the aspirants from the Southwest – Osinbajo (Ogun),  Bankole (Ogun), Amosun (Ogun), Tinubu (Lagos) Fayemi (Ekiti) and Borrofice (Ondo) are hoping that they will get the ticket as compensation for their contributions to the formation of APC and the party’s victory in 2015 and 2019.

On the other hand, aspirants from the Southeast  Umahi (Ebonyi), Nwajiuba (Imo),  Okorocha (Imo), Chima (Abia), Iwu (Imo) Nnamani (Enugu) will also be hoping that delegates and members of the party will consider their agitations to produce Nigeria’s next president based on fairness, equity and inclusiveness.

While in the Southsouth, Ayade (Cross River),  Amaechi (Rivers) and Jack-Rich (Rivers) are also eyeing the ticket, only the former Rivers State governor is making a demand based on his contributions to the victory of APC in the past.

Hoping on ‘Consensus’

As leaders of the parties from their states, governors are expected to play crucial roles in the eventual emergence of the presidential candidate of APC. Tinubu, Osinbajo, Lawan and Amaechi have all got promises of support from the governors as they go around the states.

Analysts said the battle for the APC presidential ticket is between the four and the Senate president if the party decides to abandon zoning.

Also, Fayemi is said to have an outside chance if the governors who encouraged him to join the race stick by him at the convention.

Even at that, the Tinubu camp believes that they have done enough groundwork to win the presidential ticket through a free and fair contest. This was also affirmed by Tinubu himself recently in Jalingo, Taraba state. “My chances of winning the ticket are incredibly high and I am very confident. I am sure I can and I will win it,” he told reporters. He also rejected calls for consensus arrangement: “I want democracy. I am voting for democracy. One man, one vote.”

But against such assertions, the other aspirants are hoping that a consensus arrangement in which President Buhari will give his nod to one of them can help them clinch the presidential ticket. Such expectation is unarguably being fuelled by the way the president imposed Adamu as the chairman of APC.

All eyes will certainly be on the president as the presidential aspirants continue their jostling for the 2023 ticket of the ruling party.