Northern political leaders begin screening 12 candidates after it emerges Buhari will be unfit to run in 2019

POLITICAL leaders from across northern Nigeria have begun screening a shortlist of 12 candidates in the hope of finding a suitable candidate for the 2019 presidential elections amid signs that President Muhammadu Buhari will not be well enough to stand.

For nearly two months now, President Buhari has been on medical vacation in the UK and his situation is said to be deteriorating by the day. With it fast becoming apparent that the president is unlikely to resume duties and will certainly not be well enough to stand as a candidate in two years time, the search for a successor has begun.

As a result, senior members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from across northern Nigeria are keen to ensure that acting president Professor Yemi Osinbajo does not run for the post in 2019. They are of the opinion that northern Nigeria should produce the president again, pointing out that the region must be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure and that what happened in 2011 when the zone lost out to the south after the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s demise, must not be allowed to recur.

Apart from becoming acting president after President Yar’Adua’s death in 2009, Dr Goodluck Jonathan contested and won the 2011 elections. Thereafter, Dr Jonathan sought a second term in 2015, which led to a bitter contest that was won by President Buhari.

Among those shortlisted and screened are believed to be Senator Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Senator Bala Mohammed, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, Senator Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, Governor Ibrahim Shettima, Governor Abdul’Aziz Abubakar Yari and Governor Aminu Tambuwal. It is believed that the shortlist was whittlesd down to two and they will face a contest of some sort later this year.

In spite of President Buhari handing over the reins of government to Professor Osinbajo,  some officials loyal to him appear to have constituted themselves into a cabal in a bid to whittle down the powers of the acting president. Last week, the simmering face-off between Professor Osinbajo and the Senate over the confirmation of nominees and threats to impeach him are perceived as part of the build-up to 2019.

On Wednesday, the attorney-general Mallam Abubakar Malami, openly disagreed with the acting president, saying the Federal Executive Council did not take a decision before Professor Osinbajo claimed the executive arm of government could re-present a nominee to the senate for confirmation after rejection. Senators want the executive to stop Ibrahim Magu, who they have rejected twice, from acting as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and until that is done, the lawmakers have resolved to stop screening nominees for appointments.

However, Professor Osinbajo said that as long as he remains the acting president and President Buhari’s mandate as president subsists, Mr Magu will continue in office as the EFCC chairman. He made the declaration on Thursday in Kaduna at the commissioning of the EFCC's zonal office.

Currently, a host of aspirants from across the country are on the prowl for the 2019 contest, including former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido,  Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose, former Cross River State governor Donald Duke, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki and Chief Charles Udeogaranya. Many governors, former governors, ministers and senators are also currently working underground to emerge as presidential or vice presidential candidates of the leading parties.