FAYEMI HOLDS THE ACE

 APC Presidential Primary: 

As South-west Shortlist Tinubu, Osinbajo, Fayemi

By Lanre Olaleye

There are strong indications that Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi is favoured to pick the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of other presidential aspirants from the Southern region of the country.

This development is coming on the heels of the public declaration of 11 Northern governors that the Southern region must be given the right to pick the APC presidential ticket.

The Northern governors who met in Abuja on Saturday reasoned that power must shift to the South in recognition of the party's internal policy. The governors in a communique said they sought for power shift to the south in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.

They therefore asked Buhari to pick his successor from southern states.

They said: “APC governors and political leaders from the northern states

of Nigeria today met to review the political situation and to further support our party in providing progressive leadership amidst our national challenges.

However, in a poignant submission, the governors advised the president to pick his successor from among their compatriots from the South.  ”After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.”

“We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC’s presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states.

” We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries," the communique read in part.

The call by the Northern governors on President Buhari to narrow his search for a successor to only Southern governors may have opened a direct pathway for Gov. Fayemi to pick the ticket among the other aspirants. Being the incumbent Chairman of the Governors Forum, the odds favour Fayemi ahead of the other governors from the South. The other governors vying for the presidential ticket from the Southern region are Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi and Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade.

Investigation, however, revealed that it may not be a smooth sail for the Ekiti State governor with the array of other frontline aspirants from the South-west such as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, former Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, Sen Ajayi Borofice and fiery cleric, Tunde Bakare.

Though APC leaders and stakeholders are sharply divided between Asiwaju and Osinbajo, a high-ranking source, however, told The Snoop that Fayemi may likely come out as an alternative choice.

According to him, "South-west politics is currently bastardized such that people are running away from being dubbed as a betrayer. Osinbajo and Tinubu are the two leading contenders from this region.

"Both of them have huge support base but making a choice between them won't be easy for most stakeholders but Fayemi offers a neutral choice from the region because of political sensibilities that may prevent people from choosing between Tinubu and Osinbajo," our source enthused.

Meanwhile, information filtering in has revealed that South-west presidential aspirants may have been narrowed down to three. 

This is at the behest of a meeting held at the Abuja residence of former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba where all the aspirants were in attendance. The meeting which was ostensibly called to choice a consensus candidate however narrowed the choice to three, namely Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

This development, according to sources at the meeting was arrived at after the trio of Ajayi Boroffice, Dimeji Bankole and Pastor Tunde Bakare were advised to step down for poor campaign activities. It could not however be ascertained if former Ogun governor, Ibikunle Amosun has also accepted to step down even as the trio of Boroffice, Bankole and Bakare are yet to release official statement to that effect.

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