General Muhammadu Buhari is in a political fix right now.According to credible insiders, Buhari has intensified his efforts to revive  talks with Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN so that he will run as the presidential candidate of the party.A few weeks ago, Newsdiaryonline reported that Buhari pointedly asked  ACN chiefs to drop Nuhu Ribadu so that ACN should field him instead as its presidential candidate.

Ribadu the anti corruption czar is the favourite to clinch the ACN  ticket.But more  aspirants are joining the fray.They include Dr Usman Bugaje, the party’s national secretary and Attahiru Bafarawa the former governor of Sokoto state who have been reported to be eyeing the ACN presidential ticket.According to  an associate of Ribadu, these new entrants are welcome,He was not very worried about these two but said the greatest worry seems to be coming from Buhari who is intensifying efforts to grab the ACN ticket ,if he can , all to himself.

Upon further investigation, Newsdiaryonline learnt that while it is true that Buhari now wants a working arrangement with ACN, his efforts have hit a brick wall.He is said to be in a dilemma.Said an insider,``yes he has realised his CPC(Congress  for Progressive Change) may not get him anywhere and now wants to come back to fashion out an arrangement with ACN. He is  still talking ...But he I don’t think he will be able to meet the condition ACN chiefs have given him’’

It was learnt that Buhari was pointedly told that if he wants to run on the platform of ACN, his CPC should  collapse into the ACN.``We cannot collapse into CPC, he has to fully come into ACN ’’, the insider told Newsdiaryonline.

Discerning insiders say that is a big condition Buhari cannot meet.It is a big dilemma because it is believed Buhari and his footsoldiers would not want to lose their CPC identity which they have used to mobilize new entrants into the party.``I know Buhari will listen to his people and I guess his party hierarchy will never allow him to collapse CPC into  ACN because it will spell doom for them’’ an insider said.Collapsing the CPC into ACN  will amount to political suicide .Sadly, Buhari’s CPC’s reach  is restricted to the North making it well-nigh impossible to make any serious impact in any presidential race.

``What I think will happen is that given the fact that he has contested twice and lost, he may continue to delay talks with ACN and  his supporters may in the last minute ask him to support someone who may win so that he may not contest and lose for the third time``, said one close watcher of Buhari’s presidential moves. So, for some insiders, General Buhari’s ambition is hanging in the balance now as chieftains of  ACN - on whose back he wants to ride to power next time - see him now as a late comer.

Interestingly ACN insiders say the popular General is the architect of his political quagmire.For quite some time AC and Buhari were in talks towards some kind of merger,alliance or working arrangement.The talks culminated in the idea of a mega party of some sorts including Buhari’s group,Bafarawa’s DPP and a host of others.That  was the background to the change of AC’s name to ACN.But  insiders were shocked when Buhari came up with his CPC  and he chose to go it alone thus putting some spanner in the works of the alliance or merger talks.

One insider said Buhari chose to stay away from ACN because  party chiefs refused to meet what they considered the general’s selfish demands .According to those in the know, Buhari wanted to be given guarantees that he would produce the ACN national chairman as well as being  allowed to be the sole presidential candidate of the party. These conditions were the points of disagreement which made Buhari  and his CPC stay  out of talks with Bola Tinubu and his party.One sympathizer of Buhari however believes he has not asked for too much and that the general was merely trying  to protect his  interest.

Another source  conversant with the general’s latest moves added that Buhari did not stop at talking toACN chiefs pave way for him now,  he is also said to have  got in touch with Christian leaders in Lagos trying to sell his presidential ambition. Apparently, Buhari is determined to convince those who see him as a religious bigot that he has nothing against Christians in the country.One church leaders was shocked as Buhari requested him to give him a vice presidential candidate to run with him during one of their discussions.But the famous pastor simply said his church is not into political endorsements or nomination of candidates.His church, the pastor says always prays for blessing for all aspirants.

In any case, the exit of Buhari left a vacuum which ACN chieftains were determined to fill .The  search for another credible and popular candidate finally zeroed in on Nuhu Ribadu , the  former chairman of the Economic and Financial crimes Commission , EFCC who was sacked and virtually forced into exile. Ribadu has made up his mind to run for president on the platform of the ACN.But some forces including Buhari are out to stop him. Insiders in ACN believe Buhari’s strange moves may not amount  to much anymore as  his dilly dally has left him in a political wildersness of some sorts now.

Buhari is not the only big aspirant with his eyes trained on ACN.Sources within  allege that former National Securitry Adviser,General Aliyu Gusau  and General Ibrahim Babangida are keenly interested in what happens in the party .One source even alleged that the sudden interest in the  presidential ticket by some ACN members may be related to the activities of some powers outside the party.The suspicion by some ACN  insiders is that  Babangida in particular may be looking at the party  as a viable fallback position in case he fails to clinch the PDP ticket .Bafarawa is suspected to be doing the bidding of IBB .`` He may be holding brief to facilitate IBB’s chances if he loses out in PDP `` , were the words of an insider.`` As far as we are concerned, it is democracy and they are all welcome. Ribadu is a very popular candidate and he will defeat any of the emerging challengers in the can``, the insider claimed.

Though some ACN chiefs have tried to link Bugaje’s interest to Gusau, Newsdiaryonline sources said such a linkage is unfair as according one  insider`` Bugaje is not doing it for any body else.It is unfair to link Bugaje with Gusau.Maybe if you want to link Bugaje with anybody it should be Atiku and we all know that Bugaje and Atiku fell out recently.So linking him with anybody else is untrue, and very unfair.He is not going to be anybody’s boy’’, Newsdiaryonline was told.

The source continued that if Gusau needs anybody to do anything for him in ACN ,the former NSA does not need Bugaje.`` Gusau is in constant touch with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and they talk more regularly than some of us can understand.Gusau is closer to Tinubu than Bugaje.Gusau does not need Bugaje  because he has Tinubu to help pull strings for him if he wants anything’’,Newsdiaryonline was told.

But ACN insiders say all the PDP aspirants seeking to use the opposition party as a fallback position will be disappointed.``I can tell you categorically that we won’t take PDP rejects.We will not accept them in ACN’’,one insider said earlier in the week.

ACN is one opposition party with growing influence and reach across the country.One person linked with the amazing success of the party is Bola Ahmed Tinubu.His strategic calculations ensured that Lagos did not fall to PDP’s antics under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. With his support ACN made inroads into other sates like Edo which now has  Governor Adams Oshiomhole  and Ekiti  where Kayode Fayemi  has just been sworn in as the lawfully elected governor.

Even the emergence  of  Labour Party’s  Olusegun Mimiko as  Ondo state  governors is believed to have the imprimatur of Tinubu and his ACN machinery which helped to mobilize people and resources to challenge the PDP.

But  ACN’sbiggest coup against the PDP may be in its apparent resolve to field a northerner as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2011 race.This will certainly make the opposition party very attractive in the North where there is disenchantment over  PDP’s failure to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting for the presidential election in 2011. If ACN wins in 2011 , Tinubu and his men may emerge as the most influential strategists in the nation’s  history. Whether they can pull off victory against the rampaging PDP however remains to be seen.

Related articles

Drop Ribadu for Me-Buhari Belatedly Lobbies ACN Chieftains

Why Ribadu  will   win -  `PDP       has    outlived      its  usefulness, it should just step aside   like  IBB did’    -  - Sunday Ogidigbo , national coordinator, Team Ribadu

Comments

 ibrahim adamu.kano:we the bonifide members of acn see this sega as a ineffective manner of politics by
gen. Buhari,if i didn't forget, frm the beginning ,this buhari was among the elders that sat for the creation of mega party.But unfortunately  buhari and atiku withdrew frm the group.My advice to acn stakeholder not to consider buhari.