Ahead of the scheduled Presidential primaries and national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Presidency at the weekend upped its political calculations and ante in the emergence of a candidate that would be a smooth sail for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
It was authoritatively gathered that the All Progressives Congress crack team ahead of the 2019 general elections are really worried over the emergence of a far younger candidate that may dwarf President Buhari in charisma, agility capability and eloquence in speech.
Specifically, there is the fear that President Buhari may likely step down from the race if one of the presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP, Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed emerges as the flag bearer of the opposition PDP.
Accordingly, it was gathered that the Buhari’s camp has moved into the PDP using proxies to work against the possible emergence of Baba-Ahmed, who President Buhari calls his son as he may not be willing to contest elections against Datti if he wins the PDP presidential ticket.
It was also gathered that President Buhari is also not comfortable with the possible emergence of the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who are considered younger people that may sway the votes of the youths in their favour.
A source close to the Buhari team confided in Persecond News that; “The emergence of Datti Baba-Ahmed will really cause an upset as the President might not be willing to run against someone he considers as his son. The others can be managed but that of Datti has to be handled with the seriousness it deserves and the earlier, the better.
“Amongst the presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP, Datti Baba-Ahmed is the youngest of all and he is seen as a “son” by President Buhari.
This was just as it was gathered that other leaders like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida as well as General Abdulsalam Abubakar and many others in their ranks have also in the past, usually refer to Datti as a son.
This revelation is already gaining grounds among some of the delegates and leaders of the PDP whose desire is to get President change his mind from contesting the 2019 election and are therefore willing to concede the ticket to Datti, just to force the president to abandon the race.
This calculation, it was learnt is also hinged on the premise that once President Buhari drops from the race, the end may have come for the ruling APC whose existence is solely dependent on President Buhari.
It was also gathered that the game plan to concede the ticket to Datti is solely directed at getting President Buhari to reconsider his stance for a second term in office as it will boost the morale of other PDP members aspiring to be governors, members of the National Assembly as well as create better chances for the opposition in the 2019 general elections as the continuous existence of the APC without Buhari is most unlikely.
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