APGA rejects Jonathan, favours Buhari to emerge as President

The 2015 presidential election is going to be one of the toughest contest, the signs are very obvious:

The All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, says it cannot throw its weight behind Goodluck Jonathan, who is PDP candidate, as it is very likely that the candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, will emerge the winner of the presidential election on February 14, 2015.

Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of APGA, Campbell Umeh-Nzekwe, who is also a special adviser to the national chairman of the party, revealed this during an interview with Punch on Sunday.

He said, “The game has changed. As it is, Jonathan has no chance of winning. Buhari seems to have taken over. The PDP has collapsed in the North if you care to know. All those who are running to Aso Rock and making promises to the President are just deceiving him.”

He confirmed that the shocking sermon of renowned Enugu-based Catholic priest, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, that Jonathan had failed and should step down seemed to have sent shockwaves across the South-East.

Umeh-Nzekwe said Jonathan’s problem has been compounded by the fact that the motion to adopt him as the consensus candidate of the Igbo for 2015 presidential election failed at the Ime-Obi (inner caucus) meeting of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Saturday, in Enugu.

When asked if APGA would be supporting Buhari next month, Umeh-Nzekwe said he could not say yet.

He said, “Jonathan is a sitting President with incumbency factor in his favour but Buhari has the masses and a cult following in the North. In 2011, Buhari won 12 million votes in the North with his rag-tag party, the Congress for Progressive Change, without a single governor or senator to campaign for him.

“Today, his party, the APC, has 14 governors, 43 senators and 176 Reps as well as 625 House of Assembly members. Also, the APC has dominant control of the North-West with a total number of 18.4 million voters and North-East with 10.2 million while South-West has 13.4 million voters

“The PDP has dominant control of the North-Central and Abuja with 10.4 million voters while the South-South has 8.5 million and South-East has 7.2 million votes.

“However, no zone has achieved 50 per cent of votes cast but northern voters are more committed and trustworthy than those in the South.

“Also, look at Jonathan’s campaign team. He has Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd.) as his Director General and Peter Obi as the deputy while Buhari has Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora as director general and deputy respectively. It is time for Ndi Igbo to review their strategy.”