2015: Why Buhari shelved presidential declaration Oshiomhole consults party chieftains Former head of state and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has shelved his formal declaration for the presidential race earlier fixed for today.A statement from the office of the Director General of his campaign organisation, Dr. Audu Ogbeh, read in part: “The Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation announced that the formal declaration ceremony by General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been postponed for one week. “By this announcement of postponement from today, October 8, the event is now slated for October 15, at Eagle Square, Abuja.” Although the Buhari camp gave no reason for the shift in date, Daily Sun gathered that the presidential aspirant postponed the event because of the Adamawa governorship election scheduled for Saturday, October 11. Another reason for the shift, it was gathered, was the fact that many of his suporters, who travelled to Saudi Arabia for hajj, had not returned. Meanwhile, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has commenced consultation on the possibility of contesting for the presidency. Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Publicity, Prince Kassim Afegbua, had stated, a few weeks ago, that some people were mounting pressure on Oshiomhole to bid for the presidential ticket of the APC and contest the 2015 election. Sources close to the Edo governor revealed that he had embarked on sounding out APC chieftains on the possibility of him bidding for the presidency next year. It was gathered that the governor would meet with the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, on the party’s presidential ticket. The governor, it was gathered, would also consult APC bigwigs in the northern part of the country before making up his mind on whether to contest or not. Sources revealed that those urging Oshiomhole to vie for the presidency were looking at the possibility of APC opting for a South-southerner, over a northerner, as counter-force to President Goodluck Jonathan, who may be the sole aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Oshiomhole camp, it was gathered, believed that the only way to get the South-South and South-East, where Jonathan had his support base, to dump PDP and Jonathan, was for APC to present a candidate from the South-South. Between Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi and Oshiomhole, they believed that the latter would be better favoured. Other aspirants for the APC presidential ticket are Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, publisher of Leadership Newspapers. Oyegun, at the weekend, had stated that the APC ticket was open to politicians from all parts of the country, as the party had not zoned the presidency.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:44:14 +0000
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