By Yusufu Shehu USMAN, mni

In the on going game of wits and high wire horse trading in the APC, some will easily step down after negotiating for a promised appointment and some financial compensation

That’s the real intention in investing their one hundred million Naira . To them, it’s mission accomplished and all is well that ends well because they never had the plan or budget to buy delegates and they never pretended nor made any real efforts to engage, inter face or inter hand with the delegates

They bought the Form, assembled the Press and made some kind of declaration of interest to run and they simply go to sleep

After that, they kept the duplicate copy of their Forms, including Form 18 and waited for the negotiations to commence

This category of aspirants are fair weather and pose no threats at all to the establishment
They are the class called the “pretenders”

The most difficult category of aspirants are those who bought the Form because they are really serious about realising their ambition to contest and they believe their chances are bright

The next category is the endorsement and anointment seekers
They are driven more by perception than conviction or belief

They hang their hopes on the narrow, dangerous and precarious that the powers that be, will simply announce their names as preferred, anointed or endorsed candidates of the delegate in chief and super delegate with the awesome power of decree and finality

This category do not find it necessary nor is it their intention to engage the delegates or other stakeholders for that matter

They belong to the class which for want of a better word, I will call the expendable aspirants
They fizzle out, collapse or evaporate into the thin air as soon as soon as there is a change a change in the game plan or a new direction in the dynamics of the contest

The most critical of the aspirants are those who invest heavily on the delegates and the critical stakeholders through serious consultation and are ready to stay in contention and in the contest until the final results are announced at the convention ground

This is the category of real contenders. They are very difficult to negotiate with because their stakes in the contest are the highest

They also have created around themselves, a formidable army of supporters in the top brass of the party and other critical stakeholders with a strong voice and heavy influence

They are capable of causing serious division among the shakers and movers of the party
They must not only be treated with caution but also with respect and serious consideration because of their weight in the party and their ability to support the party financially and their very strong and deeply and widely established political structure across them country

The party can ill afford to lose them to the defection to the opposition or if they decide to stay after losing the contest, their ability and capacity to work against the interest of the party from within. A phenomenon commonly described as anti party activities