President Umaru Yar’Adua’s inner caucus is reportedly toying with the idea of fielding the first lady, Hajia Turai, as Vice President in the event of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan becoming President.

The move, according to an inside source, became imperative following the increasing lack of popularity for the initial idea of sinking or sailing with the ailing President and the recent loss of key members of the caucus.
The source further disclosed that two factors forced the group to consider a change of plan: the widespread demand for the ailing President to step aside, and the loss of two influential members -Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki, and former Delta State Governor, James Ibori - by the group.

Several prominent Nigerians, including past leaders, have asked that Yar’Adua step aside and allow Jonathan to act as President.
Although the source noted that the stringent call was “disturbing and unsettling, it was the loss of Saraki and Ibori that forced the rethink.”

Saraki is said to have abandoned the ‘Umaru-Yar’Adua-or-nothing’ project and is alleged to be nursing the idea of becoming Vice President should Jonathan become President.
He was said to be lobbying governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to push him forward for the position.

The loss of the duo was said to be a big blow as they were reportedly at the forefront of the clamour in 2007 that a governor be picked as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s successor.
The fact that Ibori is backing Saraki in his present scheme was said to have really rattled the President’s kitchen cabinet.

The Yar’Adua faction is said to be initially rooting for the present Minister of Agriculture and a bosom friend of the ailing President, Alhaji Sayyad Abba Ruma. But the choice of Turai, according to the source, came up as a last minute response to the move by Obasanjo and the Governors’ Forum that are said to be rooting for serving governors. The choice of Turai, it was gathered, was “to reduce tension across the nation and reduce objection by Yar’Adua loyalists to the idea of a Jonathan presidency.”

The source added: “Several politicians who have had contact with the Presidency in the last two years have an IOU to her, and don’t forget she is mother-in-law to three sitting state governors, apart from the fact that she wields a lot of influence among the cabinet members.” The first lady was also seen as a figure that might be used as a compromise in the event that the sick President is compelled to resign.

Besides, it was learnt that what is delaying Jonathan from assuming the position of Acting President is the selection of “the most suitable candidate for the seat of Vice President.” Another source explained that the seat of the Vice President suddenly became attractive due to the permutation that Jonathan would not vie for President in 2011.
“It is thus automatic that whosoever is chosen as the Vice President might stand as the presidential candidate of the PDP in the next general election. The stake is a bit high and every one is interested.”

Consequently, three contending factions have emerged with separate candidates. The groups are those led by Obasanjo, the Turai-led Yar’Adua faction, and the Governors Forum. The Governors’ Forum however prefers Saraki while the Obasanjo group is said to be backing the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido.

But Turai choice is said to be gaining more ground among some Yar’Adua loyalists, who believe that picking Ruma may not fly given the fact that a serving governor stands a better chance than a serving minister in the event that push comes to shove in the nomination process. This is where Turai’s choice is seen as more apt because she is considered as a rallying point for all those loyal to the President and several governors, who had at one time or the other run to her for help.

But those against her choice believe that the chance of clinching the VP’s slot weighs more towards Obasanjo and the Governors’ Forum faction because the two are putting forward serving governors. The reasoning behind this is largely in adherence to a pact reached in 2006 before Yar’Adua was picked as the PDP candidate.
Serving governors then had to prevail on Obasanjo to pick one of them, without which their support would not be guaranteed.

“The thinking by some people in the Yar’Adua group is that the selection of Abba Ruma is seen as an aberration to the 2006 pact. Having benefited immensely from the arrangement, the same people would not want to change it,” said our source. There are however those who say that Turai, being a woman, might not be accepted by Emirs and Islamic leaders, who might scoff at the idea of a female President.