There are strong indications that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have<\/p>\n
dumped General Mohammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
\nfor Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.<\/p>\n
As the race for who picks the All Progressive Congress’ (APC) flag heats
\nup, Pointblanknews.com has learnt that Tinubu has switched interest, just
\nas he has told General Muhammadu Buhari to back a younger, more dynamic
\nand “fresh candidate.”<\/p>\n
Sources hinted that Tinubu had never toyed with idea of a Buhari candidate
\nso when Atiku came he assured the former vice president of his support.
\nSundry issue we learnt informed this. Atiku is viewed as a more marketable
\ncandidate and a man many in the south can trust when it comes to the issue
\nof Islam.<\/p>\n
A source privy to a recent meeting with some followers of the former Lagos
\nState Governor hinted Pointblanknews.com that Tinubu is much more
\nfavorably disposed to Kwankwaso as the APC Presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsiwaju is prefers Kwankwaso to others because he seem to be a breath of
\nfresh air. We do not want to toy with any Presidential candidate. We want
\nsomeone who can win and who can appeal to voters,\u201d the source who does not
\nwant to be named hinted.<\/p>\n
Although, it is yet to be seen if such moves will augur well for the
\nalready fragmented opposition party. A chieftain of the party who does not
\nwant to be named told Pointblanknews.com: \u201cwe are more divided now than
\nbefore and as it stands now, we are going to be more divided ahead of the
\nprimaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last Saturday Atiku hosted a forum on twitter with the hashtag, meetAtiku,
\nwhere took sundry questions from Nigerians at home and in the diaspora on
\nhis ambition and vision.<\/p>\n
A group in the South-west zone has also endorsed Atiku as the
\npresidential candidate of the party in the 2015\u2028presidential
\nelection. The caucus, known as the Atiku Abubakar Collectives, made the
\nannouncement of its endorsement of the former Vice-President at an
\ninteractive session with Atiku.The group, which members were drawn from
\nthe six states of the South-west and Kogi State, is led by Chief Bode
\nAjewole.<\/p>\n
It was gathered that Tinubu was one of those who has been urging Kwankwaso
\non for a while. Kwankwaso is seen as young and dynamic, and also a “fresh
\npair of legs” unlike Atiku and Buhari.<\/p>\n
However, while Atiku appears more liberal, Kwankwaso and Buhari are viewed
\nas too passionate about Islam and sharia. Kwankwaso has what he calls the
\nHisbah police that punish those who run beer salons. Kwankwaso\u2019s Hisbah
\npolice destroyed recently more than 240,000 bottles of beer.<\/p>\n
The 240,000 bottles of beer weren’t the only thing destroyed in the
\noperation; more than 8000 litres of a local alcoholic brew called
\n“burukutu” and 320,000 cigarettes were also wiped out.<\/p>\n
“We hope that this measure will help restore the tarnished image of Kano,”
\nsaid Aminu Daurawa.<\/p>\n
The destruction of the bottles of beer follows several operations
\ninitiated by Hisbah after the governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa
\nKwankwaso, vowed to clean up the city of its “immoral practices.”<\/p>\n
The Hisbah, founded in 2001, is a police force established by the state
\ngovernment to enforce Sharia. Hisbah works alongside civilian police and
\nhas 9,000 members.<\/p>\n
Considering the fact that most of those affected by the activities of
\nHisbah are southerners, his candidature may be a head scratcher for them.<\/p>\n
While Atiku, whose wife is from the south-west has some appeals down
\nsouth, his track record does not help him at all. He is believed to be
\nwanted in the United States for his role in the Halliburton deal.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, the Mike Okiro panel indicted him alongside General
\nOlusegun Obasanjo and a former GMD of NNPC, Funsho Kupolokun got $74
\nmillion from the slush fund.<\/p>\n
Another problem the pro Kwankwaso and Atiku groups are looking at is how
\nBuhari will take his rejection. One thing is clear, aside from his
\nperceived pro sharia stance, Buhari appears the most credible of the
\nthree.<\/p>\n
Therefore, considering how he reacted the last time, if he is dumped, it
\nmay affect the electoral fortunes of Kwankwaso or Atiku in Buhari’s zone..
\nEven if Buhari accepts the decision, there are fears most of his
\nsupporters may not support any other which could spell doom for the APC.<\/p>\n
From the last election figures , Buhari will still not get many votes in
\nthe South South, South East, South West and North central. So even if his
\nsupporters throw eight behind Kwankwaso, the Kano Governor would still
\nhave a herculean task down south.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are strong indications that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have dumped General Mohammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso. As the race for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n