It is all over. Muhammadu Buhari has beaten Atiku Abubakar to the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was a fairly predictable outcome, but in politics 24 hours could make all the difference.
Fears in Buhari’s camp that Atiku could get the ticket had heightened as the convention approached, but any doubt about where the pendulum would swing disappeared on Wednesday when 12 governors met and endorsed Buhari for the ticket.
Atiku had his own strategy, hoping that his extensive nationwide tour and rounded experience in party primaries would swing the game in his favour ─ moreso as there are only 14 APC governors, meaning other states were there for the taking. But his strategy did not work out. Buhari carried the day.
Atiku did not even come second – that slot went to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, governor of Kano state, who surprised everybody by his big showing.
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How did Buhari do it? Or, rather, how did Buhari’s supporters do it? TheCable gives you a lowdown.
Tinubu’s 10 meetings in 4 hours
Bola Tinubu, APC national leader, played a major role in galvanising support for Buhari among thousands of delegates. TheCable had reported as far back as October that Tinubu had thrown his weight behind the retired general, and despite all the intrigues that eventually ensued ─ with the possible candidature of Aminu Tambuwal, the speaker of the house of representatives, showing up along the way ─ the former governor of Lagos state still stuck to his Plan A.
Tinubu and Atiku are battle-tested. They know each other very well, from the days of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) led by the later Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. PDM were reputed as masters of delegate votes. Tinubu and Atiku needed to cancel each other out to determine whose camp would pick the ticket. The stage was set on Tuesday as delegates started arriving Lagos from different parts of the country.
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To checkmate Atiku, Tinubu got all the governors in his camp to team up with the governors in Buhari’s camp. They met with him at his office on Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos, till the early hours of Wednesday, where all the details were worked out. In the next four hours, Tinubu criss-crossed Lagos, holding meetings with key delegates, some via teleconference. In total, he held 10 meetings within four hours to finalise the voting in favour of Buhari.
Most of the meetings, which took place over the phone, were held at Eko Hotel, Lagos governor’s residence at Isaac John, Ikeja, Tinubu’s residence at Bourdillon Street, Ikoyi, and Lagos House, Marina, where key officials and delegates were gathered together for negotiation. Significantly, Atiku’s supporters were left out of the meetings.
