APC In Troubled Waters As Buhari Refuses To Step Down For Younger Candidates

Former President, and one of the Presidential hopefuls under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari has remained unyielding , despite pressure from different angles that he should give up the 2015 election in order to give younger people the opportunity to contest in an election the party has vowed to be ‘a do-or- die’ contest. This decision has not only manifested in Buhari’s recent comment and consultations with party stalwarts, but has been displayed even at several gatherings of the party’s caucus where he showed no sign of a politician willing to listen to the advice of others as it concerns the 2015. Recent events showed that the former Head of State is almost getting to the finish line of his presidential ambition, as he is now working to ensure that the October 8 formal declaration turns out successful. Buhari who undoubtedly has cult followers and loyalists across the country, especially in the North-eastern part of the country will be making a 4th attempt to govern the country. His several attempts have however become his greatest undoing as some of the APC members are of the views that it will be regrettable if the party opt for Buhari as the daunting criticism has always been that he is advanced in age and as such cannot be supported by majority of the country’s youth. Buhari has however not allowed those issues raised by most of his party members to bother him, as he believes he can rule the country at any age. This is apparently why he plans to address a collection of several youth support groups from various parts of Abuja today. Sources told DailyPost that the target of the Buhari group is to ensure that the youths are convinced that age does not really matter in governance and that those who are advanced in age and have gathered experience understand more the problems of the youth than those who are still within the youth circles. With this development, the North appears to have been divided over Buhari’s candidacy as one of the groups working towards the realization of Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s presidential bid, the Kwakwasiyya Forum, has continued to call on Buhari to rescind his decision to contest for the fourth time. The group has asked Buhari to leave power to the younger ones and continue to play advisory role in the polity. In their appeal to Buhari, they asked him to support a younger candidate like Kwankwaso. The group had cautioned the APC to carefully handle the struggle that appears to be imminent among Buhari, Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar, asking the party to ensure that such struggle for power does not destroy the party. Speaking to journalists in Abuja yesterday through its Edo State coordinator, Mr. Francis Ikonomwan, the pro-Kwankwaso group said it was working round the clock to reach out to the delegates and ensure that Kwankwaso emerges as APC’s presidential candidate for the highly coveted 2015 election. “We want a paradigm shift; we want a change from the old order and this is why people are clamouring for a realistic change. We have looked at the track record and Kwankwaso is the man that actually meets the demands of the people. “As for Alhaji Atiku, he has lost integrity, you may see people around him, they are hired crowds. Nigerians don’t want him. On General Buhari, he is a man we used to respect, he is a man Nigerians hold in high esteem, but we are surprised that he will be declaring Next week. “Remember he told us after the 2011 elections that he will not contest again and we expect him to stick to his words as a man of integrity. If he contests again, that shows that he is no longer a man of integrity. “I want to say that the ambitions of Atiku and General Buhari will tear APC apart. What is best for them is to come behind a younger person and no other person than Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,” he said. A source in the fold of the APC has told DailyPost that, the party is currently in one of its trying times, and coming out of the current turbulent time without harm may mean a massive victory for the party even in the 2015 contest against the PDP. He said ‘’ I think we are in for a big trouble, considering that we have not been able to reach consensus yet, but all the same, if we scale through this one, then consider PDP defeated, ‘’ a sources who pleaded not to be mentioned in print said.