Backed by Bukola Saraki, former governor of Kwara state, as well as some APC governors opposed to the candidature of Tinubu, Amaechi got the enlarged meeting of the party’s leadership in Abuja on Monday night to reset the entire selection process.
The opposition to Tinubu is based on the need to avoid a Muslim-Muslim ticket, an argument that will also knock out Babatunde Fashola, the governor of Lagos, who is well loved in many parts of Nigeria.
Tinubu is also being opposed on the basis of his “past” ─ although his supporters argue that there is no case against him, neither has he been convicted in any court of law.
Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the party, had ceded the choice of his running mate to Tinubu as the political leader of the south-west, which is the second largest voting bloc in the country.
In his calculations, Buhari had sought to avoid the mistakes he made in the past when he picked his running mates all by himself, deciding that a major power bloc should be involved this time around.
However, the south-west caucus of the APC met for long hours last weekend and could not come to a definite decision, but narrowed down to Tinubu and Yemi Osibajo, a professor of law and former attorney general of Lagos, as well as Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo state which is in the south-south region.
Buhari is said to be “unenthusiastic” about Osibajo because his gamble with Tunde Bakare, also a pastor, did not work in 2011.
But the presidential candidate is also worried about the backlash of abandoning Tinubu, who is expected to deliver the south-west in the 2015 poll.
Amaechi, who had been the biggest financier of the Buhari bid, had been left in the lurch, but his maneouvers in Abuja on Monday night may change the course of events.
Not only has it changed the direction of the discussion, other southern zones are now making a strong case for the VP slot.
The south-east, which had initially been written off as a no-go area for Buhari, is now asking to be considered, with former ANPP chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu, former Anambra governor, Chris Ngige, and governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, being given a look-in.
The enlarged meeting has now pushed the decision back to Buhari to make by himself in what will potentially put the former head of state in a tight corner.
Source: TheCableng.com
