The body language of some APC presidential aspirants that contested for the party’s presidential ticket along with the eventual winner, Bola Tinubu, seems to suggest that they are still carrying grudges of their defeat at the primaries.
Notable amongst the candidates are Rotimi Amaechi, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Ogbonaya Onu, Emeka Nwajiuba, Dave Umahi, Yahaya Bello, Rochas Okorocha, Tein Jack-Rich and Ikeobasi Mokhelu.
So far, none of the candidates mentioned above have appeared or seen in the campaign train of Bola Tinubu. There are indications that these candidates have deliberately avoided attending Tinubu’s campaign rallies perhaps to protest the conduct and eventual winner of the APC presidential primaries.
Amaechi, Onu and Bakare, were included in the presidential campaign council of Tinubu, while the names of Osinbajo, Okorocha and Nwajiuba were missing from the list.
In the case of Vice president Osinbajo, he was not listed as a member of the APC presidential campaign team based on the instruction of president Buhari that he should be left out to concentrate on his core job responsibilities. The same applies to Boss Mustapha, the SFG.
Despite their inclusion, Amaechi, Onu and Bakare are yet to be seen at any of the campaign rallies, 50 days to the presidential election.
Recall that Amaechi was a two-time campaign DG of President Buhari in 2015 and 2019 elections. The former governor of Rivers State has been away from the public glare since he was defeated by Tinubu.
According to an aide of Amaechi, he said his boss has not been fairly treated by Tinubu. “It is an understatement to say he (Amaechi) is not happy. When Oshiomhole went to Port Harcourt, he asked the people to only support Tinubu and that for the other positions, they should support Wike. A similar thing was re-enacted when the Ebonyi governor visited the state,” he said.
Emeka Nwajiuba, a former Minister of State for Education, went to Court to challenge the victory of Tinubu at the APC primaries.
The suit filed before a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to replace Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the APC because his nomination did not meet the requirements of Section 90(3) of the 2022 Electoral Act, was in December dismissed by the court for being statute barred having been filed outside the period of 14 days after the cause of action under Section 285(9) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.
As for Pastor Bakare and Ogbonaya Onu, both of them have not appeared or attended Tinubu’s campaign.
Onu had been at the forefront of the advocacy for power rotation to the South East of Nigeria, which has not occupied the nation’s exalted office. Pastor Bakare was appointed as a member of the Tinubu presidential campaign council but he has not attended any of the rallies.
Pastor Bakare had downplayed the Moslem-Moslem ticket of the APC while he has kept sealed lips on why he has not taken part in the APC presidential campaign.
According to a reliable party source, there may be consequences for their actions of not taking part in the APC presidential campaign rallies if Tinubu eventually wins the presidential election. They may not be on the list of persons to be considered for ministerial, ambassadorial, board, parastatals and other federal appointments.