For the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC all appears not to be well ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
This can only explain why the party’s former presidential aspirants shunned a meeting by the party to garner support for its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, close watchers of the ruling party said.
Tinubu, a former Lagos Governor emerged winner in the shadow election conducted by the party in June to choose its flagbearer after defeating his closest rivals, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Chibuike Amaechi, the immediate past Transportation Minister.
His emergence has somehow polarized the party even though the APC flagbearer has initiated peace moves to pacify co-contestants to support him for the 2023 presidential election.
As part of this consultation, Tinubu met with almost all APC presidential aspirants including Osinbajo, Amaechi, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, and Senate President Ahmad Lawan, amongst others.
He has also met with Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state who has promised him his support to emerge winner in the presidential election.
Therefore, the Wednesday meeting was meant to build confidence among the presidential aspirants, and forge a united front for Tinubu/Shettima ticket ahead of the critical election.
Apart from those mentioned above, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Ajayi Boroffice; former Zamfara governor, Ahmad Sani; former Imo State governor and serving senator, Rochas Okorocha; a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, among others were all billed to attend.
The meeting was however botched as all the aspirants, including Osinbajo stayed away from the meeting.
Even though the vice president was said to have been absent at the meeting due to an official meeting in the United States of America, USA, sources close to him said he was not committal after a notice of the meeting was conveyed to him.
“The vice president has more pressing matters to attend to. The meeting could have been held without him, after all, he has already met with Tinubu after the primary where all issues were resolved. Osinbajo is a party man and will support any decision of the party,” one of his aides said.
Apart from Osinbajo other presidential aspirants did not show up, a situation some people said has presented the party with a very difficult situation on how to proceed with its presidential campaign which according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC starts on September 28.
The magazine learned that the convener of the meeting and one of the aspirants, Dr. Nicolas Felix had to cancel the meeting at the eleventh hour when he learned that none of the invitees was ready to attend.
“Good day your Excellency. Please be informed that the strategic meeting of 2023 presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), scheduled to hold on Wednesday the 31st of August has be postponed.
“A new date for the meeting will be communicated soon. Apologies for any inconvenience(s) that this might cause. Stay blessed,” Felix said in a text message seen by the magazine.
The Source magazine learned that some of the aspirants are still nursing the wound of their defeat from the June primary, and have decided to adopt the ‘siddon look’ approach to the election.
It was also learned that those of them who had earlier taken their defeat on their strides and promised to work for the party are now angry that they are not being carried along by the presidential candidate team, even though some of them have been named in the Presidential Campaign Team headed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Some APC governors are even angry with him for not consulting them before he picked former Governor Kashim Shettima as his running mate. Many of these governors are from the North West who believed that they should produce the vice president,” a source said.
He explained that “these governors are on the same page with some presidential aspirants who have decided to play the spoiler for the party in next year’s election”.
