Some influential northern political figures have started putting heads together to orchestrate the emergence of another consensus candidate, following their rejection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Abubakar emerged the choice of the Alhaji Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) on Monday after the committee had gone round the states of the North.
This is coming as the choice of Atiku as consensus candidate has continued to up the polity as various groups in the region came out to either condemn the exercise or align with the choice.
For instance, the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation in Kaduna State and northern youths under the aegis of the Arewa Integrity Youth Group at the weekend, condemned Abubakar’s choice as the region’s consensus aspirant in the 2011 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary, saying the Ciroma-led NPLF lacked the credibility to impose the former vice president on the Northerners.
The Director of Publicity of the Kaduna chapter of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, Hon. John Perry Kude, said Ciroma’s choice was not the view of other Northerners and, therefore, declared the exercise as a nullity.
It was gathered that a number of northern governors were unhappy that they were left out of the decision that produced the so called consensus candidate of the NPLF.
A source said the Arewa Youth groups, the governors and senators were unhappy with the manner they were treated by the Ciroma-led committee in the process of its assignment.
It was learnt the different class of politicians have argued that the Ciroma committee was peopled by those who had no mandate of any particular group to lay claim to representing the people.
“The governors and senators are best suited to represent the North. If there is going to be a consensus candidate of the North, these are the people that should make the decision. But the making up of Ciroma committee members indicated that those who put it up were interested in power grab. They cannot just come up and declare themselves opinion leaders of the North,” a source said.
Former National Secretary of the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NPN), Senator Uba Ahmed, said in an interview that the NPLF could not lay claim to representing the North because its members were only handpicked.
But senators and other groups of Northerners had kickstarted a series of meetings that would lead to the emergence of a true candidate that can be said to be a consensus candidate.
A source said that while one group is said to be working in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan as a national consensus candidate, others are working towards the possibility of another candidate from the North to join President Jonathan, and Atiku in the race for the PDP ticket.
Already, the governors of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako; Jigawa, Sule Lamido and Sokoto, Aliyu Wamakko, had started off a meeting said to be preparing the ground for a post consensus PDP.
Besides, a fresh tension was said to have enveloped close allies of the former military President Ibrahim Babangida, following discoveries that some of the advertisements which cast doubts on the suitability of Babangida as presidential hopeful which were published in the wake of the announcement of the consensus candidate were traced to a particular contestant in the consensus bid.
Meanwhile, Monday’s adoption of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has opened new flank of intrigues and horse trading as leaders of the Nation’s oil-rich belt, Niger Delta, and those from minority ethnic nationalities in the north are expected to meet over the weekend.
Although invitation letters to the meeting were yet to be sent out, a source close to the parley confided in the Nigerian Tribune that all former governors, ministers who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are billed for the meeting which would hold in Abuja.
A large chunk of the brains behind the Professor Jerry Gana-led Northern Politicians Summit, it was learnt, are expected to attend.
In another development, formers President Ibrahim Babangida on Friday declared his total support for the former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar picked by the North as the consensus presidential candidate.
Babamgida, who disclosed this in Abuja at a thank you round table meeting with all his presidential campaign staff across the country said that he would support the Northern candidate as earlier declared.
“I am a humble man, I’m not a fool, I told you I would abide by decision of the consensus committee, so the message is I am supporting the consensus candidate, ” he said.
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