At least 8,000 delegates of the All Progressives
Congress [APC] are gathering at Teslim
Balogun Stadium in Lagos today – Wednesday
– to pick the party’s flag-bearer for the
February 14 presidential election.
The delegates, both elected and statutory,
drawn from the 36 states and the Federal
Capital Territory, FCT, will choose from the
five aspirants who are asking to be the party’s
candidate for the election.
The aspirants are (in alphabetical order)
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; a
former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari;
governor of Kano State, Rabi’u Kwankwaso;
his Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha
and the publisher of Leadership newspapers,
Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Whoever of the five is selected at the
primaries will face President Goodluck
Jonathan, who is being ratified later today in
Abuja as the candidate of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party [PDP], having earlier been
chosen the party’s sole candidate.
In the last three months, the five candidates
have traversed the country selling their
programmes to party supporters ahead of
today’s presidential primary.
So far, their campaigns have been decent,
apparently in adherence to the party’s stern
directive asking them not to engage in
mudslinging and character assassination.
Discreet attempts by some party leaders to
pick a consensus candidate among the
aspirants were unsuccessful. All five
contenders preferred to go into today’s
contest, believing they could secure victory in
a credible primary.
No comments: