Senator AbdulFatai Buhari may have clinched a return ticket to the National Assembly, Sources have told OYO INSIGHT.
He is the only aspirant who bought and submitted the All Progressives Congress, APC, nomination forms to contest the party primaries ahead of the 2019 election.
Buhari, who is representing Oyo North senatorial district for the first time, was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007.
Before the close of the activities last week, Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s environment commissioner, Ishola Isaac, was one of those jostling to represent the district. This newspaper could not get reaction Ishola as to why he didn’t purchase nomination forms.
But before that, Ajimobi had, on several occasions, begged his predecessor, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, to contest the seat. Alao-Akala wants a return to the Agodi Government House, to finish what his supporters described as “uncompleted projects.”
In the build up to the 2015 elections, Ajimobi had talked Alao-Akala into accepting the senatorial offer. Alao-Akala would later run for governorship on the platform of the Labour Party, where he came third, while Buhari, who was then local government and chieftaincy matters commissioner, picked the APC ticket and later defeated other candidates to win the senatorial seat. Ajimobi waited till the final minutes, thinking Alao-Akala would consider the ticket, while he kept Buhari on hold.
Just like in the 2015 elections, Ajimobi had, during a London meeting, enjoined Alao-Akala and former Senate leader to run for Oyo North and Oyo Central senatorial districts respectively while he runs for Oyo South. While Ajimobi and Folarin have picked up senatorial forms of the APC awaiting primaries, Alao-Akala picked governorship nomination forms.
Though it was learnt that Ajimobi has more than 14 extra nomination forms in his kitty to dash to governorship, senatorial and other elections’ aspirants, OYO INSIGHT learnt it may be too late for the former governor to snatch the ticket from Buhari, his kinsman.
Buhari, who is believed to have lived up to the expectations of his constituents because of the many empowerment projects he has done, had recently said that as a loyal party man, he will abide by whatever options the party adopts, not knowing that he may not have an opponent for the primaries.
According to Buhari, who chairs the Senate committee on ICT and Cybercrime in the Senate, the experiences he had garnered over the years from the various offices he has held in the past, and his present position as a senator, aside being a Phd holder has adequately equipped him to successfully govern Oyo state, however he is willing to set aside his ambition if there his any among the plethora of aspirants in the ruling party jostling for the number one job in the state, who can match or better is credentials.
Speaking on the secret to his success as a politician particularly as it concerns the turbulence usually associated with an election year, the former commissioner asserted that as a politician he has always allowed himself to be guided by three principles which are, performance while in office, appreciation for constituents and relationship with authority.
Buhari noted that any politician who is able to manage these principles effectively is not likely to have a sleepless night, even in an election year.
