Southern, North-Central Leaders Meet Tuesday Over ‘UNITY CANDIDATE’
The plan by the opposition parties to form a grand alliance to
challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which is certain
to present President Muhammadu Buhari as its standard-bearer in the 2019
election, is finally taking shape as the parties have almost concluded
the terms of the alliance.
Sunday Tribune learnt at the weekend that the leading opposition
party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP),
Labour Party, African Democratic Congress (ADC), New PDP (nPDP) and
about 34 other parties and groups are close to signing a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on the alliance.
The four-member committee working on the MoU, it was gathered, was
expected to perfect the document earlier in the week but could not
finish it. This, it was said, was to give the legacy aligning parties
enough room to digest the contents of the MoU and come up with
suggestions before a final draft is produced and signed.
It was learnt that the opposition leaders are mindful of time and are
determined to conclude work on the document and sign it within weeks.
According to a source within the coalition, Nigerians would begin to witness serious activities in the coalition.
“We are hoping to conclude all plans in the next three weeks. I can
assure you that Nigerians would begin to see serious activities in the
next few days,” he stated.
Talks were said to have reached a critical stage among the leaders of
the opposition parties, who were said had agreed on how best to go
about the alliance in a way that will make the 2019 presidential
election a walkover for the opposition.
Sources told Sunday Tribune that the PDP, nPDP group and other
aggrieved groups within the APC had shown strong commitment towards the
alliance which they said was necessary in the interest of the country,
which they said is drifting towards disintegration.
A significant number of serving governors and a majority of the
National Assembly members across party lines, it was revealed, had
bought into the alliance, as well as former presidents who are worried
that the country is tottering on the precipice with a troubled economy,
escalating killings, vices and growing corruption in the country,
without decisive action from the sitting government.
Sunday Tribune gathered that the one of the pending issues among the
groups is the platform to adopt, particularly on whether to use ADC,
PDP, SDP or any other acceptable party as the platform to drive the
alliance.
Sunday Tribune, however, gathered that the issue of platform would
not be a sore point, as the overriding consideration for the
stakeholders is the need to save the country from total collapse under
the Buhari government.
The stakeholders expressed worry that the Buhari-led government is
not ready to arrest the sliding economy or protect the citizenry against
armed invaders, especially in view of the ceaseless killings across the
country as a result of the unchecked activities of herdsmen and other
unscrupulous elements.
Meanwhile, a crucial meeting has been scheduled for Makurdi, the
Benue State capital, on Tuesday, by Southern and North-Central leaders
of the country on the possibility of a candidate of that zone extraction
squaring up with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s
elections.
Sources hinted that the option is among current permutations in the
major groups of political parties and mass-based organisations trying to
forge an alliance before the polls.
Some Northern leaders privy to the planned meeting in Makurdi, told
Sunday Tribune that a couple of politicians from the North-Central
nursing presidential ambition had indeed reached out to influential
groups and individuals from the South for possible endorsement.
Checks indicated that the leaders will hold a zonal rally, similar to
the ones organised in the three zones in the South in the last few
months to test the strength of the movement that will coalesce in the
grand alliance.
The leaders, it was also gathered, would use the opportunity of the
meeting to extract commitments of the various interest groups to the
current renaissance, especially on the overall agenda of the movement.
Part of the demands of the leaders include restructuring of the
country, implementation of the 2014 National Conference report; shakeup
in the nation’s security architecture, as well as in the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee free, fair and
credible elections next year.
Details have also emerged as to how leaders of the Middle Belt Forum
picked four of its 12 presidential hopefuls for the 2019 election.
Sources close to the Forum told Sunday Tribune in Abuja that the
Forum X-rayed credentials of the contenders including Senator Barnabas
Gemade, Dr. John Dara; Professor Iyotshe Hagher and one former military
officer whose name was given as Colonel Kontagora (retd).
It was gathered that the plan of the Middle Belt was to checkmate the
core North in the race for 2019 election, as sources said that the
Middle Belt had always been overlooked anytime the presidency was coming
to the North.
“The move is a massive one and there is the determination to
checkmate the North this time. The core North has always taken the slot
each time the presidency is zoned to the North. This time, we are
presenting quality candidates, who are seasoned technocrats and we will
market them to the whole country,” a source in the know said.
It was also gathered that during the week, leaders of the Middle Belt
would present the shortlisted four aspirants to leaders of the
pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, the pan-Igbo group,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the South South Forum in a bid to determine the
ultimate candidate for the job.
Sources said that the four regional groupings would hold another
screening session to bring up a ‘unity candidate’ which will ensure that
the North is checkmated this time.
“If you look at the electoral map of elections of 1983 and 1999, you
would discover that the Middle Belt delivered the presidency to Alhaji
Shehu Shagari and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the two rounds of
elections. The Middle Belt has always played a key role in resolving the
electoral direction of Nigeria,” a source stated.
It was gathered that the four emerged after a rigorous screening exercise, featuring a dozen aspirants.
The screening panel, which was chaired by Air Commodore Dan Suleiman
(retd), according to sources, shortlisted Olawepo-Hashim as the youngest
presidential hopeful from the Middle Belt due to his display of verse
knowledge in business and economy.