Buhari Wins APC Presidential Ticket

Muhammadu Buhari, has emerged the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He defeated four other aspirants to win the ticket by polling 3,430 votes at the party’s national convention held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar scored 954 votes.

The counting of votes earned by Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano State, Governor Rochas Okorocha, and Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah, are still ongoing, but the three of them have 4,384 votes to share and are most unlikely to overtake Buhari.

A total of 7,214 delegates voted at the convention attended by the leaders of the opposition party.

Buhari was Nigeria’s military leader between December 31, 1983 and August 27, 1985.

With his victory, Buhari will now face President Goodluck Jonathan, whose adoption was ratified by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at its special convention in the early hours of Thursday, in the February 14^th Presidential election.

It would also be the fourth time the former military leader will be running for president. He lost in all three previous ones.

In 2003, Buhari contested on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, against former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP.

He polled 12, 710,022 votes representing 32.17 per cent to Mr. Obasanjo’s 24,456,140 or 61.94 per cent.

In 2007, he ran again on the platform of the same party against the then outgoing governor of his home state, Katsina, Umaru Yar’Adua. He secured mere 6,605,299 votes or 18.72 per cent to Mr. Yar’Adua’s 26,638,063 or 69.82 per cent.

A few months after he and some of his loyalists dumped the ANPP to float a new party, the Congress for Progressive Congress, CPC, in 2011, Buhari threw his hat into the presidential ring again. He contested against Goodluck Ebele Jonathan but polled 12, 214,853 to the president’s 22,495,187 votes.

The February 14 presidential election will therefore be a replay of the 2011 electoral battle as both Messrs Buhari and Jonathan will also feature again in the contest.

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