As Nigerians prepare for the best candidate to succeed President Buhari in 2023, City People has it on good record that some of the serving and former governors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set for a major battle ahead of the 2023 polls.
While
the incumbent governors are tightening their grip on the APC and the PDP with a
view to determining who gets what, including the presidential tickets of the
two parties, the ex-governors who feel marginalized, are also determined to
remain relevant in the scheme of things.
While
the former ex-governors are reportedly holding consultations on forming a
hybrid mega party from the two leading political parties, the serving governors
are battling multi-dimensional classes of enemies; the former governors, the
federal lawmakers and the ministers. A source within the power bloc informed
City People that more of the plan of the governors are expected to unfold before
or during the National Convention of the party. According to findings, the
arrowheads of the governors’ plan have been meeting intermittently in Abuja on
the direction they intend to take the party in 2023.
It
was also gathered that the affected governors are lobbying stakeholders to opt-out of the 2014 coalition because new elements, including those from the
opposition PDP, are massively defecting to APC. It is believed that the APC
governors are calling the shots and they are pushing ongoing reforms to take
control of the party.
Also
in the PDP, Governors are seen to take over the affairs of party organs, party
administration and all-party decision-making processes, as seen in Oyo and
Rivers State.
Contrary
to speculations that the governors were sharply divided in support of two
frontline presidential aspirants: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo, a reliable source told City People that the major disagreement
within the party currently is the insistence by the governors that one of them
must emerge the party’s candidate for the 2023 presidential election.
There
are also suggestions that the northern caucus of the party has finally agreed
that the presidential ticket be zoned to the south, adding that the final
agreement is that while all the party positions hitherto held by the North will
henceforth automatically shift to the South and vice-versa, the North-Central
will be the zone that will produce the party’s national chairman in the planned
February national convention.
Another
source was quoted: “The governors are hell-bent on one of them emerging as the
party’s standard-bearer for the 2023 presidential poll and they are not bulging
on it. They have taken their resolutions to Mr President, including the appeal
that he endorses the plans for one of them to pick the presidential ticket of
the party.”
He
added that the governors had specifically reminded Mr President of the need to
toe the line of former President Obasanjo in the 2007 presidential election by
supporting and possibly influencing any of them picking the ticket for the 2023
poll, just as OBJ picked a governor, Umar Musa Ya’Adua
“However,
you know the kind of person Mr President is. Expectedly, the Governors did not
get a desired categorical response from him. It is certain that he will not
brazenly or autocratically impose any candidate on the party members, but he
will certainly play a vital role in influencing who gets the ticket,” the
source added.
The
bid to hold grip on the party structure at the state level became intense when
it was discovered that there have been outside alliances by three northern
governors.
The
three northern governors have reportedly aligned themselves with the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, but other governors are
not disposed to the alliance. The three governors are from North-West and
North-East.
Other
governors feel that they have been shut out in the workings of the party. So each
governor takes full control of his state, even without the inclusion of their
predecessors who are either still in power or lobbying to hold office in 2023.
As
it stands, every state governor across the 36 states has deployed the
sit-tight, or picked a successor for his own entity, without their predecessors.
Ogun State Dapo Abiodun reportedly schemed out his predecessor, Senator
Ibikunle Amosun and has clinched the state chairmanship slot, Gboyega Oyetola
of Osun state has schemed out the interior minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and
has taken charge of the state party machinery. Oyo State Governor, Eng Seyi
Makinde of the PDP is a king by his own fireside, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom
Wike has become a political phenomenon in this state, Kano Governor, Ganduje is
equally leaving no stone unturned to remain as relevant beyond 2023, Governor
Buni of Yobe state has positioned himself as the beautiful bride, and the same
goes for all the other states.
In
the end, the stiff battle to control the system will not be written by who was
right or wrong, but who eventually won.
-Joseph
Seun Emmanuel
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