APC Presidential Primary: Who the 8000 delegates will vote – Analysis Its down to the wire and the 8000 delegates of the All Progressives Congress holds the four ‘Aces’. Later today they will elect the presidential candidate of the main opposition party in Nigeria at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Political analysts say its a straight fight between former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari but which of the other three aspirants — Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governor of Kano, Rochas Okorocha, Governor of Imo or newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah will be the spoiler? But by last night, rumours about one of the candidates giving delegates N500,000 each ($3,000) threw the Buhari camp into panic. “Delegates may choose to vote for money. Or they may choose to vote for conscience,” said an observer close to the convention. Sources told TheNEWS that crucial meetings were held up till early today to steer the election to a Buhari candidacy. According to analysts, Buhari will most likely get a block vote from South West delegates and the states under the control of APC governors, excluding Kano, which is expected to vote Kwankwaso. Delegates from other states are not quite predictable, analysts say, which leaves the contest wide open. In TheNEWS analysis of the vote, we however predict a Buhari victory in at least 21 states. Lagos: Buhari Ogun: Buhari Oyo: Buhari Kwara: Buhari Osun: Buhari Ekiti: to be split between Buhari and Atiku. Atiku predicted to have an edge here. Ondo: Buhari/Atiku Edo: Buhari Delta: Atiku/Buhari Rivers: Buhari Bayelsa: Buhari Akwa Ibom: May be split between Atiku and Buhari Cross River: May be split between Atiku and Buhari Kaduna: Buhari (Buhari’s political base) Katsina: Buhari (Buhari’s home state) Kano: Kwankwaso Nasarawa: Buhari Plateau: Sam Nda Isaiah, Atiku Benue: Buhari Niger: Buhari/sam Nda Isaiah Zamfara: Buhari Sokoto: Buhari Kebbi: May be split between Atiku and Buhari Adamawa state: Atiku solid here since Adamawa is home base. Buhari too will get some delegates here Borno: Buhari Yobe: Buhari Gombe: Atiku Bauchi: Buhari Kogi state: Buhari/Kwankwaso/Atiku Taraba: Buhari/Atiku Jigawa: Kwankwaso/Buhari/Atiku Imo state: Okorocha Enugu: Okorocha/Atiku Anambra: Buhari/Atiku/Okorocha Ebonyi: Okorocha/Atiku Abia: Okorocha/Atiku
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:34:14 +0000