In a bid to give North-West stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress, APC, a sense of belonging, the party and its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu, have given Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State the director general of its presidential campaign council.
Sources in the party said the presidential candidate and the National Working Committee of the party have decided to make the governor the campaign DG.
The source said, “A decision has been taken to zone it to the North-West. The zone will produce the campaign director general. I can also tell you that the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, is being favoured for the role.
“Though the name of a former National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, also came up as another good candidate for the role, I think the North-West will take it from him.
“You know the former governor of Edo State was the party’s chairman in 2019 and he worked with Asiwaju during the presidential campaign. That notwithstanding, I think Oshiomhole will also play a prominent role in the campaign.
“Don’t also forget that the Babachir Lawal panel that recommended the kind of persons to pick as running mate also recommended that the campaign DG should come from the North and the chosen person must not be running for any election.”
But the media director of Tinubu’s campaign group, Bayo Onanuga, said that all stakeholders within the ruling party, including the President; and the Progressives Governors’ Forum, had begun deliberating on the subject.
According to Onanuga, the APC plans to inaugurate two presidential campaign councils – one by the APC and one by Tinubu.
“There will be two campaign teams. The party is setting up one and the candidate is setting up another but they are going to work together. They are still talking about what should be,” Onanuga said.
He, however, declined comments on the geopolitical zone where the directors general of the two teams would likely emerge from or the criteria that will be used in their selection.
Despite huge outcry from Christians in the country over the Muslim joint ticket of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima, the APC Presidential flagbearer went ahead to name the Kaduna State Governor his campaign DG, a development that Christians will definitely frown at.
