Third Force: Dangiwa Umar may face Buhari next year •Oby, Duke tipped as running-mate •I’m not yet involved at that level —Falana

If on-going projections remain intact till next year February, former Kaduna State military governor, Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar may square it up with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential contest.

Buhari is the assumed candidate of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has also zoned its presidential ticket to the North, though Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose has declared his intent to seek the party’s presidential ticket.

Dangiwa, a popular military governor in the regime of former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, is being primed as the sellable presidential candidate of the wave-making Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), popularly known as the Third Force.

Umar broke off from his former boss, Babangida following the annulment of the June 12, Presidential Elections. He was retired over the agitation for the actualisation of the mandate.

Though starting out as a pressure group, NIM said in a press statement on Wednesday 17th January, that it would eventually metamorphose into a political group that will seek elective offices in the next general elections.

The statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mallam Naseer Kura, noted that the group’s presidential candidate and the running mate, will emerge in the first week of July.

On-going permutations and consultations are pointing in the direction of Umar as the presidential candidate, with either of former Cross River governor, Donald Duke or former Minister of Education and World Bank Vice-President, Oby Ezekwesili, as the running mate.

Duke has announced his presidential dream, while Oby said she aimed to stop both the APC and the PDP from winning the presidency next year.

Both Umar and Oby are currently ex-officio members of the budding party, while Duke is the chairman of the finance committee.

The group is currently being led by the duo of a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba and Dr. Jhalil Tafawa Balewa.

The party claims its main aim is to wrest power from both the APC and PDP.

Saturday Tribune learnt that turning in the direction of Umar, is informed mainly by the realization that getting an appreciable voting population of the North  to shift loyalty from Buhari, would require getting a Northerner of almost equal political aura, to replace him.

Sources within the group noted that Umar, could be taken to be a younger version of Buhari and should be acceptable to a wide spectrum of the voting North which is also said to be slowly coming to terms with the age factor in Buhari’s much-criticized performance.

The group also said it would consider political alliances with existing political parties.

Calls made to the contact mobile number provided by the spokesperson, Mallam Kura, didn’t go through.

Calls made to Agbakoba went unanswered.

Legal Adviser to the group, Mr Femi Falana told Saturday Tribune that he was not yet a member of the group, despite handling its legal matters.

According to him, “I am not a member. I am just their (NIM) lawyer. I could be your lawyer without agreeing with what you are doing. I am lawyer to the NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) and I am not a worker in the real sense”.

When asked about the Umar permutations, he said he was “not involved yet at that level.”

Falana once sought the governorship of Ekiti State.