APC lawmaker hints at consensus candidate ahead of presidential primaries

Ahead of the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa has revealed that the party might eventually activate the consensus option in order to avoid a divided house.

Bulkachuwa, who represents Bauchi North in the Senate, alluded to this on Wednesday during an interview on AriseTV monitored by Ripples Nigeria.

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari gave hint of the consensus option, while addressing members of the Progressives Governors Forum at a consultative meeting held at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

He called for the support of the governors in picking a candidate who would fly the party’s flag at the election.

He said, “In keeping with the established internal policies of the Party and as we approach the Convention in a few days, therefore, I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the Governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor, who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023”.

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Buhari further appealed to the governors to “allow our interests to converge, our focus to remain on the changing dynamics of our environment, the expectations of our citizens and the global community. Our objective must be the victory of our party and our choice of candidate must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections”.

In corroboration, Senator Bulkachuwa explained that the President’s appeal to the Governors before his trip to Spain was a strong pointer towards APC’s possible adoption of a consensus presidential candidate.

He said, “They should not interfere with his choice of successor because he commenced some programmes which requires that Mr President be allowed to choose someone he believes will continue his mandate. The question of a successor is too early to ask and we will all know the person with time.

“President Buhari was right in appealing to the Governors to to allow him choose his candidate; this alludes to a consensus in order to avoid splitting the party.

“I don’t believe there was any debate to a point of deadlock as reported by the media. The President had called them to douse the tensions pending his return from his trip to Spain. This is to allow for consensus to take place. All aspirants were asked to sign the withdrawal oath due to the imminent issue of consensus.”

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