WITH the seven-day mourning of former President Umaru Yar’Adua over today, all eyes will be on the battle for vice president.
Six candidates appear to be ahead in the race, according to a source who said last night that the President called for their CVs.
They are Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed, former Kaduna Governor Ahmed Makarfi; Deputy Governor of Sokoto State Mukhtar Shagari; Governor Sule Lamido(Jigawa); Ambassador to South Africa Gen. Buba Marwa; and Governor Aliyu Babangida (Niger State).
The Northern Senators Forum yesterday opted for Makarfi, but some governors want Babangida and former President Olusegun Obasanjo is believed to be insisting on Shagari.
But there is opposition against Shagari over a 2008 Court of Appeal judgment.
A source in the Forum, who spoke in confidence, said: "We actually voted to pick Makarfi as our recommended candidate for the VP slot. Of 45 Senators, Makarfi garnered about 42 votes; Senator Kanti Bello scored two and one of us abstained.
"We believe that Makarfi has the experience as a finance expert to assist the President to develop the nation.
"Although Marwa is not a Senator, we made him our alternative choice on merit too. We have taken our resolution to the President of the Senate, Chief David Mark, to pass it to the President.
"What we did was to contribute our quota to the search for a new VP for the nation; it is not a binding recommendation."
According to investigation, some governors have also made a strong case for Aliyu, who is seen as a loyalist of Jonathan.
But some party leaders are said to be saying that "a governor should not be distracted; he should be allowed to finish his tenure and programmes".
It was, however, learnt that Obasanjo’s recommendation of Shagari is causing disquiet.
Some leaders of the North, some members of the Presidential Advisory Council and party leaders are opposed to Shagari.
Instead, these leaders, it was said, want either Makarfi or Lamido.
The opposition against Shagari followed a pronouncement by the Court of Appeal against him.
Many leaders of the party from the North have photocopied the Court of Appeal (Kaduna Division) judgment of April 11, 2008, which nullified the 2007 Sokoto State governorship poll, sending it to the Presidency and security agencies to stop Shagari.
They claim that the court faulted the nomination of Shagari as a deputy governorship candidate and that such a controversial candidate should not be made VP.
They also alleged that Shagari purportedly swore to a nomination affidavit in Nasarawa State with conflicting dates on the form and the receipt issued.Trade and politics in the Niger Delta, 1830-1885;: An introduction to the economic and political history of Nigeria (Oxford studies in African affairs)
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