The Northern Political Leaders’ Forum on Sunday conducted the final screening for four presidential aspirants ahead of its plan to announce one of them as a consensus aspirant for the North.
Investigations by our correspondents in Abuja showed that the screening was done at the private residence of one of the consensus committee members in the Wuse area of the Federal Capital Territory.
The four aspirants, who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party, are a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; a former National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau, and Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki.
It was also learnt that after the screening which ended at 5pm, the committee met behind closed-doors with all the aspirants.
A source told one our correspondents that the meeting was held to appeal to the three aspirants who would be dropped to “accept the committee’s decision in good faith and to supported the winner”
The final screening and meeting took place hours after our correspondents learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan had invited the presidential aspirants to a meeting on Monday(today).
Just before this, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, had frowned at the plan of the NPLF to choose a consensus aspirant for the North, saying he was, by his position as the nation’s number two citizen, the authentic leader of the region.
The Chairman of the NPLF and its consensus committee, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, had told THE PUNCH on Thursday that the consensus aspirant would be announced on Tuesday(tomorrow).
It was learnt that the consensus committee, which began sitting at 1pm, spent an average of one-and-a-half hours to screen each aspirant.
Our source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said that Babangida was the first to be screened by the committee followed by, Abubakar, Saraki and Gusau respectively.
The source, who is a member of the consensus committee, said, “The aspirants were asked questions relating to their manifestoes and the unity of the country.”
He added that Saraki, Abubakar and Gusau advised the committee to pick an aspirant whose ambition would not jeopadise the unity of the country.
“The three of them urged the committee to pick an aspirant that is acceptable to all parts of the country. They warned that the consensus arrangement might fail if the committee picked an anti-democratic aspirant,” he said.
The Head of Media and Publicity, Gusau Campaign Organisation, Mr. Adebisi Adekunle, confirmed that the aspirants were screened in Abuja on Sunday.
He dismissed speculations in some quarters that Gussau was left out of the final screening.
“It is not true that my boss was not screened. All the four aspirants were screened separately by the committee,” Adekunle said.
Asked if the committee had picked an aspirant, he replied, “There have been rumours that a particular aspirant has been picked. We are not aware that any aspirant has been picked. The process is going on.”
Also, the the Director of Media of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Campaign Organisation, Mr. Mohammed Garbadeen, confirmed that the Kwara State governor was screened by the committee.
A media aide to Abubakar, Mallam Garba Shehu, Adekunle and Garbadeen also disclosed that their bosses had received the President’s invitation to a meeting.
“The invitation was brought in today(Sunday). My boss has received it. The immediate agenda is the meeting with the consensus committee. It is thereafter he will decided whether to attend or not,” Garbadeen said.
One of our correspondents learnt that the four aspirants might not honour the invitation by Jonathan.
“We do not know the agenda of the meeting. We cannot attend a meeting whose purpose is not known to us,” a source close to one of the aspirants said.
Meanwhile, Sambo has said that his position as Nigeria’s number two citizens makes him the authentic “leader of the North.”
Sambo, who for the first time on Sunday spoke on the plan to select a consensus aspirant for the North, argued that it was pointless for any group to embark on a mission whose main objective was to ensure that President Jonathan did not return to office in 2011.
He, therefore, advised the people of the North to disregard the “antics” of those laying claims to the leadership of the region and capitalising on that to score what he described as “cheap political points”.
The vice-president also warned other Nigerians to stop listening to the remarks of those claiming to be leaders of the North, adding that their utterances would not do the country any good.
Sambo, who featured on the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation monitored in Kaduna on Sunday, said that the PDP would act in accordance with the relevant provisions of its constitution in the selection of its presidential candidate for the 2011 elections.
He said, “Those coming out to say they are the leaders of the North, in fact, it is a big surprise to us. But you know we don’t talk too much. Today, Allah, the Almighty, has told us in our capacity as Muslims and Christians that He gives leadership to whosoever he likes and at whatever period he wants, Almighty Allah also retrieves power.
“Today, there is no doubt and everybody knows, the Almighty Allah has already bestowed the leadership of the North on me, Architect Namadi Sambo. He has made me the leader of the North, politically.”
He enjoined those claiming the leadership of the North to borrow a leaf from the founding fathers of the region, who, he said, displayed humility throughout their lifetime.
“They did so much which we are still proud of. People like Sardauna and others. So those things that we had embarked upon, we believe it would be done judiciously and would bring growth and development to the nation,” the vice-president said.
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