APC’s Consensus Presidential Candidate Suffers Set Back

The hope for the emergence of a consensus presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress has dimmed as efforts by leaders of the party from the North to broker a deal failed on Tuesday night.

Only a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, who is one of the four aspirants from the region showed up for the meeting which held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

The others – Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Sam Nda-Isaiah – were absent from the parley convened by the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Alhaji Lawali Shuaibu.

When contacted, the Coordinator of the Atiku Media Office, Garba Shehu, said he was yet to get the details of the meeting. But he stated that the position of the former vice-president on the issue of consensus was already well known…

Shehu said, “I am yet to be briefed but the Turaki’s position on this issue is already well known. He has been meeting with delegates in preparation for the primaries.”

He also explained that APC had since left the issue to the aspirants and that to be best of his knowledge, there had not been any recent meeting where the presidential aspirants met to discuss or agree on the emergence of a consensus candidate.

But the Director of Publicity, Buhari Support Group Centre, Dr. Chidia Madueke, said the absence of the former Head of State and other aspirants from the meeting should not be misconstrued for lack of interest.

He said, “Caucus meetings are normal at times like these. Like you rightly pointed out, it was a caucus meeting, representatives of the various interests were there, even when the principals were not there, it does not diminish the importance of the meeting. Consensus building is an ongoing thing.”

A highly placed APC member, who was privy to the Tuesday night meeting, said: “To be honest with you, the mood among those of us who attended the meeting did not show that the consensus thing will work out.

“All the aspirants, even the most vocal advocates of consensus arrangement, are preparing for primaries. The party’s leadership has also set in motion the machinery for a primary election so, I don’t see how the issue of consensus can gain currency at this point.”