EXCLUSIVE: How greediness,regional division stalled APC governors’ decision on presidential candidate

Facts have emerged on the reason for the stalemate and indecision of All Progressives Congress governors at their two meetings in Abuja on Tuesday.

The governors met around 3pm at the Kebbi State House, Asokoro, Abuja immediately after their meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari who travelled to Madrid, Spain on a three-day state visit.

President Buhari had told the governors the qualities that the party’s presidential candidate should have, which include being a party man, someone who can inspire the confidence of Nigerians and can win the general election.

The first meeting of the governors, in the afternoon, WesternPost gathered, was inconclusive because they could not agree on how to respond to the demands of President Buhari, which include being allowed to choose the presidential candidate of APC having conceded to the outgoing governors the right to pick their on potential successors and the governors seeking second term in office the right to earn their tickets without hiccups.

Our correspondent learnt that the governors reconvened around 8pm later on Tuesday and the meeting went into late hours.

At the second meeting, the regional division among the APC governors had become more pronounced, where two of the governors, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and his Jigawa State counterpart, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, were accused for their belligerence and being polarising figures.

WesternPost equally gathered that selfishness of some of the governors who were pursuing their own personal agenda stood in the way of unanimity of purpose. Contrary to the charge of President Buhari that more consultations should be done among party leaders and stakeholders, some of the governors were fronting that one of them should be presented as a concensus candidate to President Buhari when he returns from Spain on Friday.

The governors are expected to meet President Buhari on Saturday or Sunday before the convention which will start on Monday, June 6, 2022.

According to our source, “the meeting of the APC governors did not agree on anything because it has become a fight over regional power tussle. The Northern APC governors want the candidate to come from the North because former Vice President Atiku is the PDP candidate.

“The APC governors from the North reasoned that no southern aspirant among the contenders can match Atiku because of the voting strength of the North. The governors from the South led by Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu who is the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum rejected the proposition and insisted a northerner cannot succeed President Buhari in APC after 8 years in office.

“The Southern APC Governors  challenged their colleagues to think about the unity and stability of the country. Governor Akeredolu was vehement in his opposition and counter argument against the move by his northern counterparts to foist a presidential candidate from the North on the party.”

The Ondo State Governor was put forward by his colleagues from the South as their mouthpiece. To have a middle way approach, we also gathered that the Northern APC governors proposed that two of the governors , one from the South and one from the North, should be presented to President Buhari on his return to choose from.

The Southern governors again rejected the proposal according to our source on the premise that the governors are not the only stakeholders in the party.

They pointed out that President Buhari didn’t say the candidate must be a serving governor, adding that in helping the president and party leadership to decide on the best candidate to present to Nigerians, every segment of the party and stakeholders which include National Assembly members, all the interests that formed the APC must be consulted and carried along.