APC convention: How Buhari’s candidate, Adamu, Omisore, others emerged winners

After days of negotiations and disagreements, the preferred candidate of the President Muhammadu Buhari for the position of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was ratified as the new party chairman late Saturday night.

The ratification of Adamu and other members of the incoming National Working Committee and Zonal Leaders of the party was part of activities at the convention of the party, which commenced on Saturday and ended in the early hours of Sunday at the Eagles Square, Abuja.

Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, who had emerged as a consensus candidate, was not among those who initially expressed interest in the chairmanship position. However, he was later drafted into the race by the Presidency and some governors.

The persuasion and insistence by the President for Adamu’s emergence forced other aspirants for the national chairmanship position to grudgingly step down on Saturday.

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Meanwhile, facts emerged on Saturday night on how leaders of the party across the country arrived at the consensus candidates for the various party positions.

The candidates, who made the Unity List compiled by the party leaders and various stakeholders, were ratified at the convention.

The list emerged shortly before the President arrived at the convention. The most prominent on the list was Adamu.

The consensus candidates, who were assured of the support of the party leadership, would form the National Working Committee of the APC for the next four years.

One of the main tasks awaiting the new NWC is to plan and oversee the party’s primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections.

However, underground horse-trading, negotiations and assurances from different camps were said to have delayed the commencement of the convention slated for 1 pm, as different camps were said to have kicked against the emergence of some of the aspirants as consensus candidates.

The Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, arrived at the event at 7:59 pm; the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan at exactly 7.06 pm, while the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, arrived at 7.03 pm.