APC presidential ticket: North woos Danjuma
Theophilus Danjuma
The newly registered All Progressives
Congress has begun moves to draft a former Minister of Defence
(retd.), General Theophilus Danjuma, into the 2015 presidential
election race, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
It was learnt that the North had
foreclosed the possibility of getting the Peoples Democratic Party’s
presidential ticket with President Goodluck Jonathan’s grip on the
party.
Investigations showed that the North had shifted its focus to the newly registered APC.
A source familiar with the permutations
of the northerners confided in our correspondent that the region was
desperately looking for a candidate, who could unite its people, who had
been divided by religions.
He said, “Unlike in the First Republic
when the late Saudana of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, was around, the North is
divided. Some northern leaders reason that as part of efforts to reunite
the region, Muslims must be
ready to concede the Presidency to the
Christian North. We are zeroing in on T.Y.Danjuma.”
It was, however, gathered in Abuja, on
Thursday, that a final decision had yet to be taken because
consultations were still on-going.
Another source in the APC said that the
move to make Danjuma run on the APC platform had started creating
discomfort in the party. He said, “What is happening now is really
worrisome.
“We understand that the game plan is for
the merger partners in the (defunct) CPC to produce the presidential
candidate while the Action Congress of Nigeria is to produce the Vice
Presidential candidate.
“General Buhari is still very much
interested but some elements in the North with the active support of
Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, are looking towards TY
Danjuma.
“The thinking is that he will have
greater national appeal and he is perhaps the only person who Buhari can
step down for, because of the tremendous respect he has for him.
“They are considering the option of
co-opting him into the APC, using this window to give him a platform to
challenge Jonathan, who appears almost certain to run on the PDP
platform.”
Reacting to this scenario, the Spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said nothing should be ruled out.
According to him, since the North is
desirous of providing better leadership for the country, an accomplished
Nigerian of general Danjuma’s standing would not be a bad idea.
Abdullahi said, “We (the Northern Elders
Forum) believe that the North should produce the President otherwise,
the President of Nigeria in 2015 should be of northern extraction.
“Our position has been consistent that a
suitably acceptable good candidate for the position of president should
garner support hopefully not only in the North but also elsewhere in
the country.
“If my friend is presented to me today, I will be the first to move around and canvass support for him.
“TY Danjuma is a personal friend and bearing his age, I would be one of those who will force him to run.
“But if the general agreement presents him, I will be the happiest for it.
“Obviously, Danjuma will have national and international appeal.
“We know the position is open to all of
us, if we are a bit honest with ourselves, we will agree that one is
better placed than the other and TY Danjuma should have perhaps been the
president of the country many years ago.
“And perhaps he was the one who
declined, otherwise people could have supported his leadership for the
country many years ago and if he feels strong enough to provide that
leadership, I will be one of those who will support him.”
When asked if the retired general’s age
of 74 would not be a hindrance, Abdullahi said, “We are now looking at
the person and his known abilities and the known character he is
associated with.
“Nobody can challenge the suitability of Gen. TY Danjuma to provide leadership for the country.
“What we are saying is that if he feels
inclined and he feels strong enough and willing, I am saying that I will
be one of those who will give him support.”
However, a former Parliamentarian, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, does not share this optimism.
He said, “If our leadership crisis is
real or contrived, meaning that the political class has become so
irresponsible that nobody is thinking about the future of the country,
then we are in trouble.
“If what I just said was true, then we
have a very serious problem, because it seems we have to be going
backwards to look for leaders who will lead us forward.
“That is not a characteristic of a
forward looking progressive society. In fact, a society so condemned to
this kind of thinking is permanently doomed and its survival is equally
doomed.”
When contacted, National Publicity
Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Mr. Rotimi
Fashakin, said it was too early to talk about the presidential ticket.
According to him, those who join the APC afresh will enjoy equal opportunities just like those who were pioneer members.
He said, “Everybody is going to start on
a fresh platform, we are starting anew. It’s too early to start
talking about the presidential candidate for the party at this point.
“We will not allow anybody to distract
us because we still have to go for a convention to elect our officials.
It is not the interim committee currently in place that will provide
these modalities.
“It is automatic that I am a member of the APC as a member of one of the legacy parties.
“But I have to go to my ward to physically register just like every member is required to register.
“It’s not like, because I am carrying a
CPC card then it will suffice. No. Everybody will have to be registered
to become a member.
“The legacy parties (ANPP, CPC, ACN) are
meeting on Tuesday next week to work out some of these modalities. It
is a huge task before them. I don’t envy these 35 folks at all.
“It is when an elected executive is in place that they can draw up the necessary modalities on how candidates will emerge.”
