Saturday Sun gathered that the secret meeting was held at the Victoria Island home of a prominent Indian billionaire businessman over dinner on Sunday, September 21.A reliable source close to the meeting revealed that it was held to align Tambuwal’s presidential ambition with that of Tinubu who has again renewed his plan to either pick his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket or its Vice Presidential slot.
Though Tinubu had dropped any ambition to contest any position in the 2015 elections, his associates revealed that he was encouraged to return to the race for the nation’s top job after the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made President Goodluck Jonathan its sole presidential candidate. Though Tambuwal was top on the APC leader’s list of preferred candidates for the presidential contest, it was gathered that the Reps Speaker’s ‘foot-dragging on the plan’ made Tinubu switch camp to back former Head of State, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, who he “believes can get sweeping block votes from the North to secure victory for APC given his performance in the 2011 presidential contest which he almost won with a relatively new party then, CPC (that is the now defunct Congress for Progressive Change).”With the adoption of President Jonathan as PDP’s sole candidate which the APC leadership believes will make it easier for a block vote for the main opposition party from the North, a rave of re-alignments has been going on in the party leading to the meeting held in Lagos about a fortnight ago.
At the meeting held in the Indian businessman’s home, the possibility of a joint ticket between Tambuwal and Tinubu was considered. “This was based on the calculation that the initial opposition to a Buhari-Tinubu muslim/muslim ticket was because of the public perception that the former Head of state is not a moderate muslim while the House of Reps Speaker is viewed as a moderate muslim and as a result such idea may not attract any protest within or outside the party”, the source explained. To further bolster the fresh deal, Tinubu was said to have agreed to attend the installation of Tambuwal as the Matawallen of Sokoto last weekend by the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad 111 and he indeed graced the occasion. Another reliable source in the APC leader’s camp however assured that “Asiwaju is not desperate about any ambition for now. The deal you referred to only came up after he returned from his recent long vacation.
Before he travelled for that trip, he had actually told his associates he was not going to contest for any position again. But I can assure you that if his ambition is going to rupture APC’s chances at the polls, he won’t proceed. He would rather back the most popular candidate for the presidential ticket.” Saturday Sun further gathered that indeed the last minute deal with Tambuwal who is still a member of the PDP may create a fatal division within the party especially the Buhari camp which controls the largest followership of the party in the North. The Buhari camp believes that their decision to join the merger was based on the understanding that the party’s presidential ticket would be given to the former Head of state. The other camps especially that of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who has been making in-roads to snatch some of Tinubu’s associates are also not comfortable with the Tambuwal’s project.
“This is why we argued extensively on this at the last NEC (National Executive Committee) meeting and at the end it was adopted as an agreement that no leader should be seen backing any aspirant for any position”, a national officer of the party, who attended the NEC meeting, disclosed. The party chieftain further said that “the Tambuwal ambition has always been between himself and Asiwaju Tinubu. As far as I know, no other leader of the party has bought into it and even the Sokoto State governor, Wammako, who is supporting it, is doing so because he has a candidate for the state governorship seat and doesn’t want the speaker to show interest in that.”