Feb polls: Buhari is on rescue mission —Tinubu

As the February 14th Presidential election draws near, National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, said the party leadership begged the Presidential Candidate of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2015 election inoder to rescue the country from the present challenges.

According to Tinubu while addressing the mammoth party supporters at the Mega presidential rally held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Tinubu, “the choice was meant to rescue the country from the crisis that has bedevilled its development.” He noted that the prayer of everyone before was that the country will get better and “We will not need a man like him to rule the nation. But today, we are in a great crisis. We are facing a lot of challenges.”

Tinubu, explaining the strategies adopted by those great nations in the past, said “When South Africa was facing a serious challenge, they called on late Nelson Mandella, and he was 74 years old then. And he used his wisdom to save that country.

“When America was in economic depression, they called on 73-year-old Ronald Reegan, to save their economy because he was prudent.

“Also, when Britain had problem, they called on 73-years-old Winston Churchill to rescue them and he did.

“We are calling on Buhari at this moment to rescue the nation from the crisis that has bedeviled its development.” Speaking on the merger of the three political parties that formed APC, the APC National leader stated that when “We started about three years ago, they taught that the merger of ACN, CPC and ANPP is impossible. I told them that there is a positive storm coming to change the nation.”

– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/feb-polls-buhari-rescue-mission-tinubu/#sthash.gL9KILjv.dpuf

Buhari is merely a front for Tinubu, PDP alleges

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- AHEAD of 2015 Presidential election, national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP took a swipe at the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, describing him as merely a front for the party’s National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The PDP however admitted that its flag-bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan was up for the presidential contest in the February 14, 2015 election with the former Governor of Lagos state, Alhaji Bola Tinubu and not General Muhammadu Buhari.

According to PDP in a statement yesterday by its national Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, a vote for the former head of state and the 2011 Presidential candidate of the defunct, Congress for Progressives Change, CPC, was simply a vote for former Lagos State governor.

Metuh said, “the APC Presidential candidate, General Buhari is merely a front for Alhaji Tinubu to whom he has already surrendered his powers and first official assignment of choosing a running mate.

“This development clearly confirms that General Buhari is not in charge, may have been compromised and willing to be appropriated. In fact, patriotic Nigerians from across the six geo-political zones are now embarrassed that General Buhari is playing a godson to Alhaji Tinubu.

“In surrendering his prerogative of choosing his running mate, General Buhari has confirmed that he is being appropriated and compromised to serve a personal and narrow group interest of a cabal on whose ticket he emerged as the presidential candidate.

“This APC cabal under the command of Tinubu tampered with all the rules of their party to achieve their selfish agenda of planting surrogates in all strategic positions to enable Tinubu expand his economic and political frontiers the way and manner he did in Lagos state.

“Therefore a vote for General Buhari in the forthcoming presidential election is clearly a vote for Tinubu, his political and economic interests.

“Indeed, the possible calculation of this cabal, if they ever get to power, is to choke-up General Buhari and ultimately frustrate him out of office thereby allowing Tinubu to have total control of the economic and political interests of the nation.

“Therefore the question the citizens want answered remains, ‘is Tinubu the face of the so-called change the APC wants to bequeath to Nigerians?

“The APC and its leadership have clearly shown that to them, national interest is secondary to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s business interests, little wonder many are now calling APC ASIWAJU’S PERSONAL CONSORTIUM.”

VANGUARD

Buhari Asks Tinubu to Select Running Mate

Former military Head of State Major-General Muhammadu Buhari who emerged the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following his landslide victory on Thursday in Lagos has taken a bold decision on the choice of his running mate by asking APC leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to recommend his running mate, including possibly himself.

A source close to Buhari told THISDAY that he gave Tinubu the power to pick his running mate in the 2015 Presidential election after a meeting of APC chieftains in Lagos because “he was very impressed with the way Tinubu kept to his words to back him to victory by delivering bulk South-west votes to him during the Presidential primary.”

Another source added: “This bulk South-west vote gave the general a big edge in the primary. He (Buhari) was impressed with Asiwaju’s conduct.”

Having delivered on his promise, Buhari felt it was only natural that he should reciprocate Tinubu’s gesture and good faith.

So, on Friday, Buhari was said to have told the former Lagos State Governor to choose or recommend a running mate for him.

“Buhari told Tinubu that he could either choose himself or recommend somebody else. The combined vote of the region, plus the votes of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa delivered by Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State gave Buhari a landslide victory in Lagos,” said the source.

However, the source said Buhari was aware of a recent APC resolution against a Muslim/Muslim Presidential ticket and that the General was also aware of the sensitivity and diversity of the Nigerian nation before making the offer to Tinubu who is a Muslim like himself.

The calculation is that should Tinubu pick himself as the running mate and it is acceptable to the party Exco, Buhari would have no opposition to it.

On the other hand, if he is rejected by the Exco, Tinubu will have to recommend somebody else. High on Tinubu’s consideration, should it come to that, is Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Professor Yemi Osibajo, a former commissioner in Tinubu’s defunct cabinet. Osibajo’s consideration is to give the South-west a sense of belonging in the emerging political permutation.

Buhari, who by his win at the APC convention has set up a rematch against President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got 3,430 votes to beat other contenders for the presidential ticket of the main opposition party.

Prior to Friday’s decision by Buhari, Tinubu had always been speculated to be a major contender for the vice presidential slot.

He was said to have stubbornly refused to step down his ambition despite the strong opposition within APC to a Muslim-Muslim pairing.

Another major contender is the Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, a Christian from the South-south zone, who has been a major financing and logistic supporter for Buhari to square up against Atiku and other contenders for the APC ticket.

Amaechi, who has never hidden his desire for the vice-presidential slot, was also instrumental in the outward transformation of Buhari, from a light-blue agbada wearing, stodgy, elderly retired army general, to an urbane, bespoke suit-wearing, spritely man eager to keep up with the Joneses.

For Amaechi’s efforts, Buhari’s key advisers canvassed the vice-presidential slot for him. But with the decision by Buhari yesterday, Amaechi’s hopes seemed to have been dashed.

A source close to Tinubu said the Rivers State governor stood not even the slightest chance of being nominated by the former Lagos State governor as he is now torn between a South-west candidate and a South-south candidate.

The calculation is, were he to choose a South-south candidate, who in this case is Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman who is Chief John Odigie Oyegun also from Edo State, South-south will have to vacate office for a South-west candidate.

Many of the leaders of the party believe that should Tinubu concede the vice presidential slot to Oshiomhole,  he (Tinubu) would have to emerge as the national chairman so that he would be able to influence appointments in favour of the South-west.

Tinubu’s Stooges and Almajiri Journalism

Taiwo Sanyaolu writes that the recent revelation by the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Muiz Banire, on the state of the party is not only correct but the position of a majority of party members, who do not have the guts to speak out

Lagos politics is taking a new dimension most especially with respect to recent developments in the All Progressives Congress (APC). It seems it is now a battle between those who want progressive change within the party and the agents of compulsory maintenance of status quo of politics of imposition.
The most disturbing aspect of it is some errand boys in The Nation who have taken the gauntlet on themselves believing that the best way to continue surviving is to engage in gutter journalism and toilet patronage.
Let me say right away that I am one of the deprived party members in the last congress of the party in Lagos state and therefore make no pretence as per my interest in the subject matter.
Prior to my reacting to the said piece, I made contact with Premium Times which confirmed that in the said interview, Dr. Muiz Banire never specifically made mention of any personality and that was why they put the names in bracket, the import of which should be known to Mobolaji Sanusi if indeed he is a seasoned journalist.
However, since Sanusi has decoded it is Asiwaju that was being referred to, I will respond in that context. When it is clear that Tinubu has defecated in the temple and tore the holy scripts to clean his ass and the whole world is condemning his sins, a Lilliputian journalist like  Sanusi, on page 22 of The Nation edition of Friday, November 14, 2014, shamelessly descended on the arena through his almajiri journalism of condemning anybody who opposes the denigrating politics of his lord and savior in Bourdillon.
How on earth can anyone in his right senses forget that Lagosians are not idiots that can be manipulated anyhow without resistance for politics of imposition to continue forever?
In the first place, Sanusi, in condemning the respectable paper delivered by Dr. Banire at the Colloquium in Honour of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, did not get his facts right. He did not know that Dr. Banire delivered his paper at Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, but rather said that the paper was delivered in Osogbo. What a journalist!
Second, he claimed that Dr. Banire was a product of one Olatunji Hamzat’s political benevolence. This rookie journalist is not knowledgeable in the history of politics in Mushin. For God’s sake, anyone who was present in Mushin before and after 1999 knew that Dr. Banire was a political factor in Mushin through his party activities and not by any godfather.
His ascension to commissionership in Lagos State in 1999 was as a result of his excellent political performance in assisting Alliance for Democracy in the company of Senator Ganiyu Solomon and others to emerge winner in the governorship election that produced Tinubu as governor.
Elections are conducted in polling units from where the results would go to the wards and local government collations centres. Tinubu was not the one that mobilised Mushin Local Government for his victory in 1999 but people like Dr. Banire, who spent his energy and resources to mobilise the masses in support of the party.
How much did Sanusi’s political leaders spend during the election and how can any writer manipulate history to make Dr. Banire a political apprentice of Olatunji Hamzat?
Assuming without conceding that it were so, is graduation from apprenticeship not in the dictionary of Sanusi, or natural order of events? Ignorance is a deadly disease. It is deadlier when it is compounded by sycophancy and these are the diseases worrying Sanusi.
Dr. Banire was a notable senior lecturer in 1999 in the prestigious Faculty of Law, University of Lagos and a practicing lawyer with numerous records of courtroom excellence in advocacy.
The almajiri journalist, in his begging business did not know that Dr. Banire became a political leader through dint of hard work and political wizardry. Sanusi claimed that Dr. Banire was using a ramshackle automobile before 1999 without mentioning the brand of the automobile.
This is evident of Sanusi’s political sycophancy as he only makes false and baseless claims without supplying necessary particulars. Again, assuming without conceding that this is true, in Sanusi’s clan, people never progress by dint of hard work?
Let us consider the record of this political savant, Dr. Banire. It was while Dr. Banire was in office as Commissioner for Transportation that we enjoyed some sanity in Lagos State. It was his achievement as commissioner that transformed the transportation landscape in Lagos State. A major achievement of Tinubu’s regime was recorded in transportation and if not for the sharp intellect of Dr. Banire, this would not have been.
It must be realised that the political contributions of Dr. Banire during the first term of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola cannot be over-estimated. A major achievement of that regime was recorded in the Ministry of the Environment, where Dr. Banire was the Commissioner.
His contribution to politics in his area, Mushin, today is a reference point as Mushin continues to return the highest votes for the party in all elections. Dr. Banire coordinated the election of 2007 and the landslide victory recorded by Action Congress of Nigeria made him an indispensable product in the government of Governor Fashola.
The same thing he did in 2011 and he has never lost in his immediate constituency unlike Sanusi’s paymaster, who even lost his polling unit in the last local government election of 2011. Nothing can be farther from the truth than the ridiculous assertion that all that Dr. Banire “achieved was through recommendations of his godfathers”.
The history of modern Lagos cannot be complete without the invaluable achievements of Dr. Banire in the Ministries of Transportation and Environments in Lagos. He is indeed an inspiration to new generation of young leaders in Nigeria. Hired writers can never diminish the invaluable contribution of Dr. Banire to Lagos.
Dr. Banire has been assisting his political party all over the federation towards victory in several elections. Very many governors of progressive inclination would testify to the unquantifiable support rendered by Dr. Banire towards their victories. The same Dr. Banire has been using his advocacy skills and financial resources to support the party in different states of the federation anytime an election was rigged against the party.
The records are there for anyone to appreciate as Dr. Banire was in Adamawa to fight for ACN despite the Boko Haram menace which was threatening the State. He did not think of his personal safety when he was traversing the length and breadth of the nation to protect the interest of the party.
Unfortunately, Sanusi did not respond to the allegations of fact contained in Dr. Banire’s paper and interview published by Premium Times. He rather resorted to character assassination of which damages would have run him bankrupt if an action is filed against him.
Dr. Banire said “nobody should be intimidated as no one is God”, yet Sanusi is angry. One wonders if the threat by Tinubu to sack Sanusi some few weeks back due to financial impropriety of which he was accused is what made him to indulge in gutter journalism and almajiri penmanship.
Sanusi accused Dr. Banire of ingratitude to Tinubu for being appointed a commissioner. What is lost to this sycophantic mind is that a man of honour should not be shy to speak the truth and should not be deterred by sense of “gratitude” for an appointment which, except to Sanusi, is a privilege rather than a burden.
It is only people of Sanusi’s mentality that see appointment to public service as a perquisite. No wonder the inordinate struggle for same in our country. In other jurisdictions, such is basically for service and not for amala benefit as in Sanusi’s perception.
Let us remind Sanusi that his benefactor, Tinubu, fought himself off the shackles of the leaders and elders of Alliance for Democracy when they constituted themselves into sheer political nuisance. People like Dr. Banire backed Tinubu to achieve his freedom that brought about the formation of Action Congress and the demise of Alliance for Democracy.
History of Lagos politics in recent times cannot be complete without the mention of that development which brought about Action Congress. If Tinubu turns away from the progressive path, there must be courageous individuals like Dr. Banire, an important stakeholder in the progressive movement, who can mobilise to call him to order.
Sanusi wrote: “At what time did Banire realise that imposition was not progressive?” Sanusi does not know how long Dr. Banire had been campaigning against imposition in politics. Dr. Banire’s stance against imposition relates to nomination of candidates and not appointment of political officers as anyone may be appointed to any office.
Sanusi displayed crass ignorance when he alleged that Dr. Banire’s emergence as National Legal Adviser of APC was out of imposition. This is idiocy per excellence! Dr. Banire emerged the National Legal Adviser at a convention conducted by the party.
Assuming, without conceding that Dr. Banire had even benefited from imposition as alleged by Sanusi, does that make imposition of candidates right? If Sanusi had ventured to digest the interview very well, regardless of the above fact, Dr. Banire said in the interview that they are all guilty but only solicits change in line with the objective of his party. That I consider the height of humility!
It is clear that Dr. Banire has always been campaigning against imposition of candidates in the party for a long time which efforts he has always been carrying out within the party diplomatically while appealing to those aggrieved by the imposition. He made such individuals to stay within the party and he is now saying enough is enough! There is limit to such patience now!
Sanusi’s paper is a clear admission that due process has never been followed in the past. We thank him for that clear admission as he said “Let us ask Banire if he is ready to henceforth follow due process himself.”
Contrary to the falsehood peddled by Sanusi, Dr. Banire did not sponsor anyone for speakership in Lagos State as we are very familiar with the politics of Lagos State much more than people like Sanusi can pull wool over our eyes. This is a simple case of hallucination! I am sure Sanusi is not further pretending not to know that Speakership ‘appointment’ remains the exclusive preserve of his paymaster.
Sanusi’s article is nothing but a campaign to launder the image of his master, whose political dominance of Lagos State cannot continue forever. Yet, he, for a paltry sum of N250,000 monthly stipend has rubbished journalism as a gutter item by condemning a man of honour who has the courage to speak truth to power.
People like Sanusi are the ones who deceive Tinubu to believe that he is infallible as they lick his drooling spittle and assure him that the dirty habit is fashionable. They are the ones who want to destroy him with sheer sycophancy.
We thank Dr. Banire for his gallantry and honour. We thank him for voicing out the belief of the majority of the members of All Progressives Congress, who do not have the liver to oppose tyranny within the party. The era of imposing aspirants who lose at primaries is gone. We congratulate Dr. Banire for pointing out the dangers to the collective survival of our party in Lagos State and Nigeria.
-Sanyaolu is a Lagos APC member

THISDAY

Why Tinubu dumped Buhari for Tambuwal

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

Team Tinubu, the camp of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was compelled by some former Nigerian leaders and Northern Islamic leaders to drop its support for the 2015 presidential aspiration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Reflective of the pressure which also came from some close associates of Asiwaju Tinubu, the political group has switched support towards the presidential aspiration of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal who with his entry this week, immediately turned into a major contender for the ticket.

He has Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the main challengers for the party’s presidential ticket with Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano State and newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah also contending.

Several other factors were taken into consideration by the Tinubu camp in switching support, close associates of the political leader disclosed to Saturday Vanguard. Among the other factors was the alleged overbearing influence of some close associates of Gen. Buhari, who they claimed were likely to fence out other political stakeholders in a possible Buhari presidency.

Three former heads of state, two from the north and one from the south and a very influential retired army chief from the northeast who has also held political appointments in the present dispensation were among those cited by sources as having prevailed on the Tinubu camp to drop support for Buhari.

The decision of the Tinubu camp to drop support for Buhari, it was learnt, also followed reservations from some sections of the north notably, some Islamic leaders.

“It is not that we dumped Buhari, the Islamic clerics, the imams and the political leaders in the north particularly three former heads of state said that they don’t want the man,” the source said.

President Olusegun Obasanjo and a former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida met penultimate Tuesday following the latter’s return from a medical trip abroad. The two men met for 30 minutes behind closed doors.

However, Gen Baban-gida had in the past been publicly quoted as urging Speaker Tambuwal to aspire for a higher office. Speaking at the presentation of the Vanguard Personality of the Year award to Governor Chibuke Amaechi of Rivers State in Lagos on April 6, 2013, the former military president said:

“When leaders like Tambuwal delivered on their electoral promise, we advise them to try something higher. For Tambuwal, your guess is as good as mine. Well done.” Babangida’s remark was applauded. .

The influence of some present and past minders of Gen. Buhari was also another reason taken into consideration, a source disclosed.

“There is this perception about Buhari that he is surrounding himself with some people like Nasir El-Rufai, Buba Galadima, Sule Hamman” the source said, reawakening complaints about the overbearing attitude of Buhari’s now dissolved political machine, The Buhari Organisation, TBO which had in the past been accused of selectively fencing out people.

The Tinubu associates also feared that the perceptions of religious extremism which the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP had sought to tag on Buhari could deny the party votes in the South were he to emerge as candidate.

Though many of the Tinubu associates do not regard him as an extremist, but the perception already created, it was learned, could be injurious to their political outing. There were also concerns that Buhari could be detached from responsibility and reference was made to his past roles as head of state and chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Task Force, PTF where his subordinates usurped authority in his name.

“When he was head of state most of the power was delegated to Idiagbon and when he was at PTF, it was another person, that took charge and that if APC says they are looking for change that Tambuwal represents that change,” an associate of Tinubu revealed.

Another factor that was taken into consideration which was projected by some associates of the APC national leader, Saturday Vanguard learned was the prospect of Buhari turning on Tinubu and others once he is invested with power.

“There are also fears in Asuwaju’s camp that the man may destroy Asiwaju and may come back to hurt him and some of Asiwaju’s loyalists warned him,” the source revealed.

The matter of General Buhari’s age also came into consideration in the final consideration to drop support for the former head of state as it was reasoned that 70 to 80% of voters fall between the age of 18 to 40+ and most of them don’t know Buhari.

Political associates were also disturbed that inputs made by party leaders into the general’s speech at his declaration at the Eagle Square last month were discarded raising apprehension that the general in office could reject advice. Some were also understood to have raised the fact that the former head of state also did not have enough money for the race ahead.

The factors inevitably helped to shift attention towards Tambuwal who was earlier aligning himself towards the Sokoto State governorship contest.

Support for Tambuwal’s aspiration is also being boosted by permutations that his sterling leadership of the House of Representatives where he has the committed support of more than half of the members had put him in pole position in more than half of the federal constituencies in the country.

The decision of the Tinubu camp to change attention from Buhari and Tambuwal’s entry into the contest was welcomed by associates of Atiku Abubakar who see it as an opportunity for them to move in to harvest support from the influential Southwest caucus that is firmly controlled by Tinubu.

The Buhari camp was yesterday adjusting itself not to be in panic mood as it welcomed Tambuwal into the race. Osita Okechukwu, a strong loyalist of Buhari in a statement made available to Saturday Vanguard said the development would not cut off the celestial bond between Buhari and the more than 12 million followers behind him around the country.

He said: “The entry of Rt.Hon. Aminu Tambuwal is a welcome development, the more the presidential aspirants or any aspirant to governor, Senate, national or state assemblies the merrier.”

“Our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be the greatest beneficiary, as the mobilization of the electorate will be wider, penetrating and robust.”

“Therefore, Hon Tambuwal is highly welcome into the presidential race. This is why the constitution of our party was amended penultimate week, to accommodate in less than one hour, any person who joins APC.”

“On his chances, one cannot hazard a guess, as Tambuwal unlike Buhari or Atiku had never contested nationwide election. He only contested in a federal constituency and had never tested his popularity in Kano, Akure or Enugu.”

All one knows is that his entry will neither diminish nor cut-off the celestial bond between GMB and the masses and the middle class of our dear country. The masses and middle class had renewed at every election GMB’s 12million Vote Bank, therefore the contest at the end of the day is between President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and GMB.”

VANGUARD

2015 APC Presidency: Fierce battle for Tinubu’s endorsement

Fresh facts emerged yesterday that contenders for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have intensified their bid to get the endorsement of Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The five contenders – former military Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; and publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah – are said to be appealing to various sentiments with a view to getting the former Lagos State governor, who is the most prominent APC leader but who is yet to come out openly to any of them.

As the deadline for the presentation of a presidential flag-bearer inches closer, Sunday Vanguard learnt that all the contenders for APC’s ticket are now pulling all possible stops ranging from family linkages, to political alliances, business relationship as well as  sentiments bordering on contemporary realities.

In fact, aspirant by aspirant, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that the pre-eminence of their relationship with Tinubu would play a major role in determining who gets the ticket.

Most importantly, leaders of the APC are agreed on a common possibility:  That managing a post-presidential convention rancor could cost the party more, than having a house where interests are subsumed for the larger good of the party.

For instance, the Buhari camp is said to be banking on the very obvious fact that, without Tinubu and the former military head of state, there could never have been any party in the first instance because “it was the merger between the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, that gave birth to the APC”. An aide to Buhari said, And you cannot talk of APC without talking about Tinubu and Buhari.  How that important relationship would today be sacrificed on the altar of mere exigency is unfathomable”.

For Kwankwaso, it was learnt that the relationship between Tinubu and the Kano State governor did not just start in APC.  “Mind you, both men were in the National Assembly during the turbulent days of the Third Republic.  And both men are united in pursuing the need to ensure that the APC wrests power from Jonathan next year because they both have come to realize that the only way to rescue Nigeria from total collapse is to remove Jonathan from office.  The feeling is mutual and the respect is also mutual.  Both men are in talks and nothing is etched in stone regarding where the interest would swing”, a Kwankwaso ally said.

Sam Nda-Isaiah’s decision to pitch his tent with the APC, sources said, may not be unconnected with his progressive ideals which he continues to propagate in his column.  But beyond that, a Tinubu confidant said that “people on the outside seem to forget that Ashiwaju has a way of keeping his cards close to his chest and, just as Babatunde Raji Fashola emerged from the blues and became the Lagos State governor in 2007, all the contenders for the presidential ticket of the party today stands almost an equal chance of getting Ashiwaju’s nod”.

The most interesting of the permutations is the relationship between Tinubu and Atiku.

In fact, Sunday Vanguard gathered from a Tinubu insider that “Atiku’s decision to finally dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the APC was never a flight of fancy”. The insider added: “Recall that the fight to stop Olusegun Obasanjo’s impunity as President which Atiku spearheaded got the support of Tinubu.  And whereas both men were in different political parties, their relationship dates back to their days in the Social Democratic Party, SDP.  The Tinubu that some people do not know is more potent that the Tinubu that people see at political rallies or social gatherings. What the Turaki and Tinubu have agreed on is that a level playing field is a condition-precedent to having a united house”.

In the case of Tambuwal, APC sources said that unlike others who went for the purchase of the presidential nomination forms, the Speaker of the House of Representatives had the form bought for him. “That in itself speaks volume of the goodwill he has.  But he has himself said he is still consulting.  And he knows that quicksand of politics makes the game a very dicey one so nothing can be cast in stone”, one of his aides said.

Indeed, Tambuwal’s emergence as Speaker against PDP’s zoning arrangement could not have been possible without the support of opposition reps in ACN and CPC.

Last night, one of Tinubu’s very associates disclosed to Sunday Vanguard that even as the APC National Leader keeps his card close to his chest, “one thing is paramount:  The overall interest and success of the party supersede anybody’s ambition”

VANGUARD

Tinubu’s camp lines up three men for Buhari’s running mate

Associates of All Progressives Congress, APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are lining up three possible running mates for Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) should the former head of state prevail in the forthcoming presidential nomination convention of the party.

The synergy between Team Buhari and the Tinubu camp was formally brought to public light last Wednesday when many of Tinubu’s political associates, including his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu got prominent presence at Buhari’s public declaration for the presidency in Abuja.

The three prospective running mates, according to Vanguard sources are Prof. Yemi Osibajo, a former commissioner in Lagos State, Senator Ajayi Borofice presently representing Ondo North in the Senate and Mr. Wale Edun, a former commissioner in Lagos State.

Two other choices in the consideration of Team Buhari, the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and another former governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo were said to have been taken off the radar by the Asiwaju forces on account of political differences.

The intrigues in the relationship between Dr. Fayemi and Tinubu reached a crescendo last week when Tinubu absented himself from the commissioning of the Ekiti State Government Liaison House in Lagos.

On the scheduled day of the commissioning, the APC leader was said to have become invisible, sources close to the development told Vanguard, a fact that seemed to underline the increasing political disconnect between the once close men.

The projection of the three men, Borofice, Osibajo and Edun by the Tinubu camp follows the rejection by the mainstream of the party of a Muslim-Muslim ticket that would have seen a Buhari- Tinubu ticket.

Sources say that Tinubu may have lately withdrawn himself to that fact and is now believed to be preparing himself to position his own man to be a possible number two man for the country.

The consideration of Osibajo Vanguard learnt is based on the twin factors of his relatively clean character and respect in the Christian community. Osibajo, who served as attorney general and commissioner for justice in the Tinubu cabinet has won a respectable image as a senior pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

He is said to be fairly close to Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the general overseer of the RCCG. Those rooting for him say that positioning him on the ticket would balance any insinuation on the country drifting towards an Islamic path as some critics of Buhari have sought to assert.

The consideration of Senator Borofice, it was learnt, was aimed at strategically breaking up the hold of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the Ekiti/Ondo axis, where the PDP is presently known to have set its foothold.

“By bringing out Borofice, who is about the only APC senator elected official in the Ekiti/Ondo axis, we can push for presence in the two states given that the PDP is in control of those two states,” a close associate of Tinubu said at the weekend.

Edun, who is reported to be the third person under consideration served as commissioner of finance for the two terms Governor Tinubu between 1999 and 2007 and he is said to be in position to bring relative youth to a presidency under Buhari’s watch.

“Our consideration of Edun is on the need of young blood given that Buhari is now of age and would need, young savvy men to keep him in track,” a source said.

Both Osibajo and Borofice were acclaimed at Buhari’s declaration. Edun’s presence at the event could not be confirmed at press time. One other prospective nominee, Senator Olurunnimbe Mamora Vanguard learnt was like Dr. Fayemi not being favourably considered by the Tinubu camp ostensibly because of his independent trait, which reportedly came to fore in the testy days leading to Governor Babatunde Fashola’s certification of a second term ticket in 2011. Mamora was also present at Buhari’s event.

VANGUARD