Information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the political musical chairs may have nailed the ailing President of the federal republic of Nigeria, General Mohammadu Buhari. This is as the All Progressive Congress [APC] Governor’s Forum rose from a closed door meeting where it adopted to select a replacement vice president against Buhari’s incapacitation and eventual Yemi Osinbajo elevation to the seat of President. The group of APC governors agreed on the selection of the Zamfara Governor, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari as the replacement for Osinbajo in the eventuality of Buhari’s inability to continue as the President of Nigeria. “They think it’s just a matter of time”.
Following the initial break of the news/rumor of the demise of the President of Nigeria at the operating room in a health facility in London, all hell was said to have gone loose. According to authoritative information made available to 247ureports.com, the initial report of President Buhari’s demise came about as the defibrillator implanted into the heart of the President was being rejected by Buhari’s body. The rejection episode led to temporal seizure of the heart resulting in frantic efforts to transfer the President to an Intensive Care Unit [ICU] where the health complication could be handle better. During the process of frantic efforts to transfer the President, the reporters who saw the bundled President in his state, rushed to press to report his death. Prematurely.
The report of Buhari’s death, as expected set off alarm bells within the making administrative and Executive quarters in Nigeria. Top on the list was the former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who took to his heels to lobby the South West Governor’s and Legislators to consider using the Doctrine of Necessity to impeach the supposed incapacitated President and to swear in Osinbajo and then select him [Kwankwaso] as the vice President. ”Kwankwaso’s campaign was intense”, explained a security operative who revealed that the security apparatus were monitoring Kwankwaso’s frequent travels to the many South West leaders. “We alerted the Governor’s Forum on what Kwankwaso was up to”, added the operative.
Kwankwaso who came second at the APC presidential primaries is said to be livid over what he believed was a breach in agreement between himself and the then leaders of the APC. Before the primary elections within the APC to select the Presidential flag-bearer for the party, a group led by Bola Tinubu had approach Rabiu Kwankwaso, who was then the Kano State Governor, pleading with him to select the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi as the replacement for the dead Emir of Kano State. Already, Kwankwaso had penciled the father to one of his commissioners as the replacement. But as the Tinubu group pressed on, Kwankwaso agreed to a negotiated arrangement. He requested for the party’s presidential ticket to be given to him in return for Sanusi’s crowning as the Emir of Kano. Tinubu, who already had his choice candidate in Buhari, initially refused the offer but agreed later, with a tongue in-cheek agreement. So Kwankwaso prepared for the primaries believing he was already pegged to pick the presidential ticket. He was surprised by the turn of events. And has remained bitter at the outcome of the events till date.
“Who would there give him a post of vice president” Tinubu thundered when he heard of the security reports over Kwankwaso’s attempt to coerce the South West leaders. Interestingly, the South West leaders had approached selected leaders of the Senate on the need to use the Doctrine of Necessity. But the Senate President’s refusal put a halt to the effort. The Senate President in response opted to take a delegation from the Senate to pay the President a visit to ascertain the extent of incapacitation before further discussions are taken. Bukola Saraki, as a medical doctor by discipline, decided to join the delegation and to meet with Buhari’s doctor to discuss medically the ability of Buhari to continue. Bukola Saraki was said to have held the talks with the London medical team and was convinced that the President was not totally incapacitated. But he was very sick.
Saraki’s findings coupled with the findings of a private team of investigators, moved the group of South West leaders to continue to impress on the governor’s forum to meet on the issue of selecting a vice president. While impressing on the group of governors, they made a plea to avoid the person of Kwankwaso.
The group headed by the Zamfara Governor sat for the meeting. Their criteria was to select a vice president to deputize Osinbajo in the event of Buhari’s demise or inability to continue to serve in office. They also insisted the selected person must be a serving governor. Three governors were initially selected, Sokoto Governor, Kaduna Governor and Zamfara Governor. After further deliberations and consultations, the group settled on the Zamfara State Governor.
Kwankwaso is reported to still be on the heels of lobbying. He is actively lobbying the South West leaders to consider his selection as vice president as an added value to the eventual presidency of Yemi Osinbajo. He is said to impress on the Souh West leaders that the medical procedure undergone by Mohammadu Buhari would certainly not allow him to survive the rigor of the presidency.
Many within the APC Governors Forum agree with Kwankwaso’s assertion even though they do not want him as the next vice President.
