By Dapo Akinrefon
THE Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, is set to unveil its flag bearer, who will contest against the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and other parties  in this year’s presidential elections.

In 2007, the ACN (then AC), fielded former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its standard bearer. Atiku, who has since returned to his former love, the PDP, contested and lost to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The party is on the march again, in search of a candidate, who will do battle royale against whosoever emerges as the PDP presidential candidate, considered its giggest foe.

It is with this that the party, in accordance with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines, which mandated political parties to hold their primaries not later than this week, is conducting its primaries that would see to the emergence of a candidate today.

Already, there have been last minute horse trading within the party, with the view of ensuring that one of the aspirant becomes the flag bearer.

Ribadu

Meantime, the four front runners are pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa, former scribe of the party, Dr Usman Bugaje, and Mallam Siedu Malami.

The party allegedly went into hiding to screen the four presidential aspirants that collected the nomination forms to run the presidential race on its platform.

It is worthy of note that all the aspirants are from the North.

Bafarawa:

Bafarawa jumped ship from the Democratic Peoples Party, (DPP) which he co-founded before the 2007 general elections. It was on this platform that he vied for the Presidency and lost.

The former governor of Sokoto State, after leaving the DPP, however, failed to disband it. Political pundits foresee the possibility of him returning to his ‘pet project’, if he fails to actualise his ambition in the ACN.

Ribadu:

To the youths, he is the candidate for generational shift. He has a high rating as an anti-graft crusader who was committed to the war against corruption. Although, critics point out that he lacks a support base, he cannot be brushed aside owing to his intelligence and perceived patriotism for Nigeria, which he exhibited during his tenure as the EFCC boss.

Bugaje:

As a former member of the House of Representatives, Bugaje was a strong ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He defected to the ACN in 2006 with Atiku but refused to return to the PDP with him.

The former National Secretary of the ACN is  seen as a force to reckon with. He is  optimistic and believes that his chances of emerging as the party’s candidate are very bright.

Malami:

Political analysts portray him as a dark horse. Though a young man of promise, his dark side is the obvious lack of experience.

He started as a pioneer staff of the National Maritime Authority (now Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency) Lagos in 1988, and has worked at various times with multilateral and international organizations.

It is interesting to note that all the aspirants vying on the ACN platform are already pessimistic. This is because the leadership of the party is holding talks with the Buhari-led Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, on the possibility of an alliance.

In the event of an alliance, all the aspirants will have to step down for the former Head of State, who is perceived to have more popularity in the northern part of Nigeria.

On his part, Bafarawa did not welcome the alliance.

Meantime, the party has spoken of its readiness to accommodate the defeated aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential primaries  to run against the winner on its platform.

National chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande said that with the ACN holding its primaries today; it makes it possible for the losing PDP aspirant to run for the opposition party’s ticket.

Akande said, “if by any chance any PDP member who decamped to ACN is fit or is adjudged fit by the national committee, definitely we will accept such people.”