Buhari To Meet Tinubu, Osinbajo, Amaechi, Lawan, Others As APC May Opt For Consensus

Indications have emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari is set to meet with presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the party’s primaries.

It was gathered that Buhari will use the opportunity of the meeting to help reduce the number of presidential hopefuls.

He is expected to ask them to accept the outcome of the primary as was done during the APC presidential primary in 2014.

“The President will meet with the aspirants a few days to the primary with a view to ensuring that there is unity and harmony. He will also meet with the governors separately. The date is not fixed yet, but it should be this week if INEC doesn’t extend the deadline for the primary as we are all hoping,” an APC chieftain who wished to remain anonymous told The PUNCH.

“The President has a candidate. How to present the idea to the likes of Tinubu will be the challenge,” he added.

When contacted on the telephone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said he was not aware of such a meeting.

“I am not aware of any meeting as of now,” he said.

However, the report claims that all APC presidential aspirants are open to accepting a consensus except a former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Other aspirants are willing to step down if President Buhari endorses one of them as his anointed candidate.

Based on the Electoral Act, any aspirant who agrees to step down must do so in writing.

According to The PUNCH, some major aspirants have started approaching the less popular aspirant to drop their ambition and support theirs with promises to refund the N100 million used to purchase the party’s form or promises of they will be given juicy appointments.