2015: Buhari Set To Declare For Presidency

Buhari at a campaign event
Feelers coming from the camp of former
military head of state, Muhammadu
Buhari have it that pending the
conclusion of consultations nationwide,
the All progressives Congress (APC)
chieftain is set to formally declare his
presidential ambitions as early as next
month ahead of the 2015 general
elections.

One of his aides who spoke
anonymously in Abuja on Wednesday,
August 27, 2014 said Buhari is currently
carrying out serious nationwide
consultations after which his political
ambitions will be publicly declared.
According to the unnamed aide, the
former head of state has been
consulting with stakeholders in all sides
of the political divide – politicians, both
withing and without the APC – religious
and opinion leaders, youths and market
women in all states of the country,
adding that so far, response has been
encouraging.
Thisday reports:
"We are rounding off with the
consultations and within the next
few days, General Buhari would
publicly declare for the race and it
is our hope that he would not only
emerge the presidential candidate
of APC but would eventually be
elected come February 2015," he
said.
The aides dismissed any challenge
that might be posed by other party
bigwigs like former Vice-President
Atiku Abubakar and Governor
Musa Kwankaso of Kano State,
saying the general still commands
unequal popularity among the
grassroots.
"If General Buhari declares today,
that is where our people would go.
Who else would run against him in
the north? Who else do you think
the party would prefer to a man
who single-handedly secured 11
million votes despite the rigging
machinery of the PDP in 2011?
General Buhari is the president in
waiting, that is the truth," he said.
On the modified open ballot system
adopted by APC to decide the
presidential candidate of the party,
another source, who is a member of
the National Working Committee
(NWC) of APC said it was a
welcome development.
"We are all in support of the
method but it has not been finalised
yet. If you look at it very well, it
would allow every aspirant to
campaign as if it were the real
general election. It is a system that
involves all party members. And let
me tell you, whatever method of
voting that is adopted, General
Buhari would emerge the
presidential candidate of our
party," he said.
Buhari, who is considered a frontline
contender for the presidential ticket
of the APC, is not new to the race,
as he has contested for the
presidency three times.
In 2003, Buhari ran against the then
President Olusegun Obasanjo on
the platform of the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP); in 2007, he
contested against the late President
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua; and in
2011 went head-to-head against
President Goodluck Jonathan, but
lost in the three elections.
With the merger of the leading
opposition parties that gave birth to
APC, Buhari's associates are
confident that if he secures the 11
million votes predominately from
north, and is able to capture the
South-west, which has the second
highest voter population after the
North-west, winning the next year
election will be a forgone
conclusion.
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