Presidency officials pressurise Oshiomhole to award Buhari's in-law senatorial seat if he loses governorship bid today

PRESIDENCY officials have been reported to be applying pressure on the five contestants in the Adamawa Central Senatorial race to stand down in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari's brother-in-law Mahmood Halilu so he can be returned unopposed.

Mahmood, the younger brother of Hadjia Aisha Buhari, the president's wife, has launched a high-profile governorship campaign and intimidating electronic billboards announcing his candidacy are all over the state capital Yola. This, however, puts him on collision course with incumbent governor Jibrilla Bindow and amid fears that Mahmood may not succeed, sources close to the presidency have come up with a Plan B.

Those close to President Muhammadu Buhari have hatched a plan whereby if Mahmood cannot clinch the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adamawa State gubernatorial ticket, he should run for senate. Apparently, representations have been made to the APC national headquarters not to humiliate the first lady and her brother.

One party source said: “Some forces in the presidency and Adamawa State are now saying that the minimum concession they would accept for Dr Mahmood Halilu Ahmed is to disqualify all aspirants for  Adamawa Central Senatorial District and give the first lady’s brother automatic ticket for the seat. They want to  ask five aspirants to step down for Dr Ahmed if he is unable to defeat Governor Jibrilla Bindow at the primaries.

“The affected aspirants are a former managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority Alhaji Umar Suleiman, former chairman of Fufore Local Government Area Barrister Aliyu Wakili Boya, ex-secretary of Nigerian Red Cross Barrister Bello Hamman Diram, a former member of the House of Representatives Hon Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed and Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri, who is  a die-hard  supporter of  President Muhammadu Buhari from ANPP days. The greatest challenge at hand is that the first lady’s brother never bought the form to contest for Senate, he was never screened for senatorial ticket,  yet some forces in the presidency want him to represent Adamawa Central Senatorial District."

He added that all APC members in the National Assembly from Adamawa State have protested to the national headquarters of the party about the latest development. Meanwhile, Mahmood has written a petition to the APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole demanding the immediate reconstitution of Adamawa Gubernatorial Election Committee.

He added that if his observations were not addressed, he might not participate in the governorship primaries scheduled for today. According to Mahmood, the delegate tags were printed by the state government, the delegate list was not available for scrutiny and confirmation as of at last night and the venue of the primary elections is not well-secured and illuminated.