With the February 26 National Convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) inching closer, leaders and stakeholders of the party, particularly, governors, ministers, and members of the National Assembly, are searching for a consensus candidate that would lead the party to the general election in 2023.

A reliable source told THISDAY that President Muhammadu Buhari had consonant views, and that he actually handed down the option of a consensus candidate for national chairman before jetting out to Ethiopia to attend the African Union (AU) meeting last week. The president returned to the country yesterday.

Among those being considered for the post of national chairman, a source further hinted, included former Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Bawa Bwari from Niger State, Saliu Mustapha from Kwara State, and Senator Tanko Al-Makura from Nasarawa State.

These three prospective candidates were allegedly mentioned repeatedly by many of the major stakeholders of the party as suitable to lead the APC to a successful election in 2023.

Following media reports that APC was considering fielding former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate in 2023, the ruling party said defectors to the party, including Jonathan, would be given waiver to contest.

THISDAY gathered that the APC stakeholders were informed that in their search for a consensus candidate for national chairman, “They should put into considerations factors, like energy, credibility, experience, and ability to drive and sustain the winning streak of the party in the next general election.”

According to a northern governor, who pleaded anonymity, “The president had informed us that the only way he would be part of the much talked about idea of a consensus national chairman is for the stakeholders to ensure that whosoever that will emerge meets certain irreducible leadership criteria, chief of which are character and credibility factors.”

The governor said the ruling party was considering adopting the consensus option to avoid the crisis that could follow the election of a national chairman, bearing in mind that the national convention was around the corner.

The source explained that though “the office of the national chairman has not been officially zoned to any of the geopolitical zones in the north, in principle, the party may yield to the agitations of the stakeholders of the party from the North-central zone.”

The source explained further that at several meetings of the APC governors with the party’s National Assembly members as well as members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the three aspirants from the North-central had been consistently mentioned.

Bwari was Minister of State for Mines and Steel from 2015 to 2019. He was also Chief Whip in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007.

Mustapha was Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive change (CPC), Buhari’s legacy party before the merger that birthed APC. He was also Organising Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) at some point.

Al-Makura, a serving senator, was governor of Nasarawa State.

While Mustapha and Al-Makura had long declared their intentions and embarked on rigorous campaigns across the country, Bwari was yet to officially declare his intention at the time of filing this report.

Mustapha and Al-Makura also appear to enjoy the full and open backing of their governors, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Abdulahi Sule, respectively.

THISDAY was told that the stakeholders might have drafted the three names for possible security screening to avoid selecting anyone with the baggage of controversies as national chairman.

Barring any further delays, the outcome of the security profiling of the three might form the basis of the choice that would be sent to the president early next week.

According to the source, the security profiling was discretely undertaken to avoid any embarrassment to the ruling party.

Though it was gathered that two former governors – Abduallahi Yari of Zamfara and Modu Sheriff of Borno State – were still protesting adoption of a consensus option, the source said their protest might not hold water since the president had bought into the idea.

In the same vein, two aspirants for national secretary from Anambra State, Ambassador Jerry Sunny Ugokwe and Nze Chidi Duru, may emerge. The implication is that the office of National Secretary may have been zoned to the South-east.

Meanwhile, following media reports and on-going permutations that APC was considering fielding Jonathan as its presidential candidate in 2023, the ruling party reiterated that defectors to the party would be given waiver to contest.

Jonathan had of late been paying visits to Buhari in Aso Rock, and holding private discussions.

Speaking with THISDAY yesterday by telephone, National Secretary of APC’s Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator James Akpanudoedehe, reiterated that anyone that defected to the party, by virtue of the December Resolution, would be given a waiver to contest, including the former president. Though Akpanudoedehe said he was not aware if the former president was planning to come to the party.

Akpanudoedehe said, “Go back to my former reaction. I cannot bring out that topic again on the front burner. I cannot bring up that matter, because I actually answered that question about Goodluck Jonathan and I told Nigerians that anybody that comes into the party by the resolution of December has the right to contest.

“I am not aware that the caretaker committee has endorsed him; I am not aware that the caretaker has endorsed anybody. I’m not aware that he (Jonathan) has been wooed to join the party. I am not privy to that.”