APC gladiators jostle for presidential ticket

 

Sources in the party told our correspondent that the battle for the presidential ticket intensified following the recent release of the 2015 general elections timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

While the party has said it is leaving all positions open to members from all the country’s geopolitical zones, the latest political manoeuvrings within the party indicate that the APC presidential candidate may emerge from the North while the vice-presidential candidate may come from the South-West.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that politicians who hoped to clinch the party’s tickets had begun to lobby and reach out to various interests in the party. Prominent among such aspirants are a former military Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso; and Publisher of Leadership newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah.

Our correspondent also learnt that some interest groups are also pushing the presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in 2011, Nuhu Ribadu, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to contest.

Those that have been linked with the vice-presidential race in the party are Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola; Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole;  Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha;  a former Governor of Lagos State and a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.