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fter news went to town that Prof Yemi Osinbajo has been picked as Buhari’s running mate, what we are hearing again is that nobody has been selected. Earlier on, it was Rotimi Amaechi’s name that was being touted. Now, they said all are rumor at the moment.
According to Punch, a marathon meeting by the leaders of the All Progressives Congress ended in the early hours of Tuesday(today) without a consensus on the running mate for the party’s presidential candidate, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Unlike the national convention/ primary which produced Buhari on Thursday without much rancour, the meeting which started at about 10.30pm on Monday and ended at about 1.58am on Tuesday was said to have been characterised by intense horse-trading.
Different caucuses of the APC had started a series of meetings which culminated in a larger one that had all the party’s governors and leaders in attendance.
The National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, did not attend the enlarged caucus meeting. One is of the opinion that this may be to remove the belief that Tinubu call the shots in APC
Before the enlarged meeting which held at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, rose, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha had left.
They did not return as of 12. 50am when Buhari and some other participants, including seven governors, started filing out of the lodge.
Although the reason for their action could not be ascertained, The Punch learnt that the National Working Committee of the party would ratify one of the shortlisted vice-presidential aspirants on Tuesday.
The aspirants being considered are Governors Rotimi Amaechi(Rivers), Babatunde Fashola(Lagos), Adams Oshiomhole(Edo) and a former Lagos State Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yemi Osibajo.
Others whose names came up were former governors Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun State) and former governor Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti State)
A seven-member committee headed by Chief Tony Momoh was set up to prune down the number of aspirants. It has representatives from each zone of the country.
They include Chief Bisi Akande (South-West), Senator Chris Ngige (South-East), Senator Danjuma Goje (North-East), Chief Audu Ogbe (North-Central), Chief Sam Jaja (South-South) and Governor Yari Abubakar (North-West).
The enlarged meeting will reconvene by 12pm today.
The caucus arrived at two major decisions which included the rejection of Muslim-Muslim ticket.
It was gathered that Abubakar, Okorocha, Kwankwaso and Nda-Isiah would lend their voices to the choice of the vice-presidential candidate. This would be followed up by input from Buhari.
One of the governors, who attended the meeting said, “We are still meeting. It is not as easy as you see it. We are still meeting.”
Another leader of the party also confirmed the stalemate, saying “We have not picked anybody yet.”
Source: Punch