Reactions have continued to trail media reports that former military dictator,

The strategy, Sunday Tribune reliably learnt, is meant to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan, who hails from the zone is denied a 100 per cent support from his zone if he finally declares his intention to contest the presidential election in 2011.

Investigations by Sunday Tribune over the plan by the former military president to pick his running mate from the zone revealed that no matter the personality of his choice from the zone, it would not guarantee him any inroad into the zone because the people would not want to play second fiddle to any zone in the emerging political realignment.

According to Barrister Kayode Ajulo, “if IBB is serious about his ambition, he should demonstrate it with the kind of character he picks from the zone. In fact, I thought he should have picked a serving governor from the zone because of the power of incumbency. Picking a former governor as far as I know is a minus because some of them are currently being quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on alleged financial recklessness while in office. Picking any of them would therefore be seen as a grand design to confer immunity on them and therefore, stalling the investigation and trials as the case may be.”

He stated further that “no matter the offer and other things Babangida is going to dangle before politicians from the zone, the South- South will prefer the position of the president to playing second fiddle. He is trying to engage in divide and rule tactics and I also know that no former governor worth his salt, not the ones facing corruption charges, will agree to run with Babangida because of the overall interest of the zone in 2011.”

In his own reaction, Alhaji Balarabe Musa saw the move as his personal decision but refused to say if the move was capable of drawing the South-South to his camp.

According to the former chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), “it is his own decision and it will also depend on what Nigerians want. It is not in my character to run down any aspirant. We have reached the stage where we can mix and live freely. It is better to give all the aspirants the benefit of the doubt and fair hearing.”

Speaking on the development, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Akwa Ibom State, Chief Bassey Ukoyen, described the move as a joke carried too far by the IBB camp. “If it is true that he is planning to break the knitted South-South zone with a running mate slot, he is indeed over stretching his luck. When we even look at the caliber of the individual being rumoured to be his running mate, we find it absolutely difficult to believe that he wants to run. He may come with whatever offer, he may pick any kind of character as his running mate, what we have decided in the zone is sacrosanct and that is, to Goodluck we all pray for, and let those who pray for bad luck follow IBB.”

Speaking in the same vein, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, who is the National President of the Arewa Consultative Forum, noted that no matter the personality the former military president decides to pick as his running mate, the North and indeed the whole of Nigeria will continue to reject the like of Babangida, Atiku Abubakar and Mohammadu Buhari, saying, “ he has the right to run with whoever he wants to run with. If he is serious about his ambition, he would look for a more credible choice from the zone than these characters who would further compound his problems.

“Certainly Nigerians will not support him because they do not want old people in the system any longer. IBB, Atiku, Buhari and others will not get our support from the North and we have started working against their ambition.”

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment