N100 million presidential nomination forms: Osinbajo’s supporters ready to pay; VP’s Campaign Council to be announced soon

Some staunch supporters of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s Presidential ambition have indicated interest in paying for his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for participation in the 2023 race to Aso Villa to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

A source close to the presidency, who pleaded anonymity told GPNews that “we already have offers from supporters who want to pay …some are ready, even right now to cut the cheque.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC), on which platform the Vice President intends to run, rose from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting Wednesday, April 20, 2022, with the announcement that its Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for the presidential race would go for N100 million and that sale of the forms would commence on Saturday, April 23, 2022.

Some have said that the cost of the forms are too high but the source said that the zeal of the Vice President’s supporters was borne out of their conviction that nothing should stop the Law Professor turned politician from running, “even against the money bags who would have been gloating that the bar had been set too high for him to scale.”

Asked to comment on the speculations that Professor Osinbajo was considering withdrawing from the race to pick the ticket of the APC, the insider said the insinuations are “baseless,” stressing that the Vice President is “in the race to win.”

There had been a deluge of criticisms, especially believed to have been from the camp of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, since the Vice President declared his interest in the presidential race, with many of the critics saying he should not have declared when his “political godfather” had already indicated interest in the position. Some of them had suggested that he should withdraw in deference to Asiwaju Tinubu in whose administration he had served as Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice

But the source said that there had not been any time when the Vice President contemplated pulling out of the race, noting that this is a democratic dispensation and what is at stake is how to steer the ship of state to safe habour.

Further asked what level of support he thought the Vice President enjoys, especially among the APC Governors who appear to be holding the ace, being that they are the leaders of the party in their states and therefore in charge of the delegates that would vote to decide the party’s flagbearer, the political tactician said that it is still too close to call. “Dicey to say specifically how many are for the VP because there are pledges but a good number are still edging bets, but several comfortable pledges (are) in the bag. ”

He also confidently said that very soon, an all embracing Campaign Council will be announced to start the process in earnest.