Few days after President Muhammadu Buhari indicated a template for his successor in the forthcoming All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries, governors of the ruling party are beginning to rally around Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who is believed to fit the presidents description.
Several APC governors were sighted in the Presidential Villa meeting with Osinbajo and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, in what sources say may be a move likely to result in a consensus presidential candidate for the party.
According to reports, State governors sighted in the Villa between Wednesday and yesterday included those of Kano, Ogun, Ekiti, Gombe, Nasarawa and Ebonyi.
The reports said a clear majority of the 22 governors on the platform of the ruling party under the aegis of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) appeared to have agreed on supporting the candidature of Prof. Osinbajo ahead of the primaries, commencing on Monday.
According to the reports, more northern governors including those of Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa and Gombe States are said to be opposed to a northern presidential candidate for APC.
The governors held series of meetings at the Kebbi State Governors Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, on Tuesday, after meeting with the president. The meetings were said to have been initially deadlocked on who to support as the APC’s presidential flag bearer.
However, after reconvening, reports emanating from the meeting indicated that the governors had agreed that the presidency should be zoned to the South, with Osinbajo as the candidate.
The source, according to the reports, said that some governors had first insisted that the partys presidency should be zoned to the North because the main opposition party had settled for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at its convention.
The reports also quoted an aide of one of the governors present at the meeting as disclosing that certain governors were asked to reach out to some notable aspirants to urge them to step down for the vice president.
Recall that the president, at Tuesdays meeting with the governors, had called for reciprocity in choosing his successor.
