The battle to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari had been fierce and tension-soaked in the ruling party.
From the 23 aspirants who were screened by the John Oyegun-led screening committee, the electioneering had been breath-taking as members of the party studied the body language of Buhari who once said he had a preferred successor but failed to name him.
Up to the last minute of the electioneering, the president kept members of the party guessing on his preferred successor, with different contradictory statements; saying at one time that he had a preferred candidate and at another recanting the claim on his successor.
But while many aspirants were banking on the president’s endorsement to win, pundits said that pasture was a miscalculation as the president was not known to put up a spirited fight for anyone.
As far back as January this year, Buhari granted an interview to Channels Television where he hinted that he had a favourite to succeed him but he would not reveal the name.
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He said he was “open to the emergence of anyone,” but later, when pressed, added that he had one person in mind but he would not name him so that he would not be eliminated.
Pressed on whether he had any favourite in the APC, he added: “No. I wouldn’t because the person could be eliminated if I mention it. I better keep it a secret.”
‘I am not interested in my successor’
Earlier in the interview, Buhari said: “I am not interested in who becomes the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as I am open to the emergence of anyone.
“No. Let him come, whoever it is. The only important thing (is) I made sure that on record, nobody should ask me to come and give any evidence in any court.
“Otherwise, whoever it is, he will be in trouble. Because all the important things are on record. I made sure about that. Important issues are all on record.”
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Days after the conduct of party primaries for other elective positions in 2023, the president met the party’s governors under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), urging them to allow him to pick his successor.
Buhari at the meeting on Tuesday May 31, stated that state governors were given the opportunity to pick their successor, so they should also allow him to do the same at the federal level.
The APC national chairman on Monday flew a kite when he announced Senate President Lawan as the consensus candidate endorsed by President Buhari. The announcement was greeted with a flurry of angry reactions, especially from the camp of 13 other aspirants in the race.
His announcement came after governors of the party from the North backed power shift to the South.
However, the kite failed to fly anywhere as the president, through a statement from Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu countered the national chairman, saying Buhari had not anointed anyone as his preferred candidate.
Shehu expressed the president’s determination to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
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He quoted Buhari as speaking during a meeting with the governors at the State House, Abuja, saying the party is important and its members must be respected and made to feel they are important.
The president said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC governors to feel the same. “You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain. We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody,” he said.
According to a public affairs analyst, Gbade Ojo , if the president’s favourite is not the preference of the majority of the party’s members, the person might suffer a legitimacy crisis.