SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, is set to declare his presidential ambition under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), sources close to the party have said.
It was confirmed in Abuja that having concluded the series of consultations, the speaker had concluded that he could win the primaries of the APC.
Sources said Tambuwal was banking on the fact that bigwigs of the party, including former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwakwanso, would share votes from northen members, while the speaker has been assured of block votes from the South-West.
A source in the know said the Speaker has “consulted widely and has been persuaded by his contacts to drop his governorship aspiration for a higher office.”
It was gathered that the reception and encouragement he got from leaders, including former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, made him to drop the governorship ambition and choose to pick the nomination form under the APC.
Though it was learnt that Tambuwal was initially afraid that he would be knocked out by one of Buhari, Atiku or Kwakwanso, it was gathered that the assurance he got from Obasanjo and chieftains of the APC in the South-West bolstered the ambition.
“The ambition is currently hoisted on the fact that there are assurances by leaders of the APC, especially a chieftain from the South-West, who insisted that the zone would guarantee him of votes from South-West.
“The permutations are that votes from the North at the party primaries would be split amongst General Buhari, Kwankwaso, Abubakar, and himself.
“The chief promoter of Tambuwal has promised him bulk votes from the South-West and South-South, while the South-East would be scrambled by all the contestants. His running mate, a nominee of the promoter, would come from the South-West,” the source said.
The sources concluded that Tambuwal had serviced his friendship with the South-West, especially leaders of the party in the zone, by ensuring that he hardly missed any event by the opposition in recent years.
He was said to be planning the declaration to come immediately after that of Atiku, which had been fixed for September 24.
Reacting, his spokesman, Imam Imam, in a text message to the Nigerian Tribune, said “the Speaker is still consulting on his political future. The outcome of the consultation will be made public at the appropriate time.”
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Source: http://www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/15663-tambuwal-set-to-declare-presidential-ambition-under-apc
