There are strong indications that a governor in one of the South South states may be the promoter and financier of the presidential ambition of an aspirant from the South East, reliable sources told Saturday Telegraph. Th highly-placed sources, who disclosed this to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said the powerful governor, who belongs the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hopes to lobby influential members of the main opposition party, to ensure the emergence of the aspirant.
Part of the calculation, according to the insider sources, is for the state chief executive to emerge as the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the preferred aspirant, in the event that he succeeds in winning both the PDP’s ticket, as well as the presidency. It was further gathered that high-wired plans made by the PDP governor to get his preferred aspirant’s endorsement by South East party stalwarts failed, as many had feared that such move will shut out other presidential hopefuls from the zone. The governor is also said to have a Plan B, which is the projection of one of his colleagues from the North East, also a prominent voice in the PDP Governors’ Forum.
The North East governor has played prominent roles in national affairs, it was gathered. One of the sources said: “The Governor is (seemingly) expanding his political frontiers, in his determination to increase his level of prominence in the polity. “Now, let me expose his game plans: he is positioning and promoting the candidacy of a prominent PDP stalwart from the South East.
“As a matter of fact, the governor and his party, had approached PDP top official in the South East in company with his preferred aspirant, for possible endorsement. “That, however, did not happen, as many of the prominent South East politicians approached, sued for caution, against the backdrop of the fact that more politicians will declare interest as the political process gets clearer. Another source, who spoke in similar vein, pleaded with the presidency to enact an executive order for anti-corruption agencies to rev-up corruption cases against politically- exposed person’s (PEPs).
“If you ask me, I will appeal to the presidency to enact an executive order, which aim is to rev-up investigations of politically- exposed persons. “If you must know, some of these prominent Nigerians angling for the plum job see that as an escapist route to gain immunity from prosecution”.
