There were strong indications, on Thursday night, that legal icon and human rights advocate, Dr Olisa Agbakoba SAN, is under intense pressure to join the race for the office of the president in 2019 on the platform of the newly formed Grand National Political Coalition initiated by the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), otherwise known as Third Force.

This became evident following the steering committee meeting of the rainbow coalition in Lagos on Wednesday where the leadership profile of about five high-ranking presidential aspirants were X-rayed by the leadership of the grand coalition in a bid to shortlist the most suitable and popular among them for the movement.

Some of the aspirants being considered by the movement are those who are said to have been wooing and making overtures to NIM, an emergent political convergence considered to be the beautiful bride of the Nigerian political configuration for the 2019 elections because of its growing membership strength, which hit five million plus during the 2018 Grand National Political Summit held last week in Abuja.

An inside source at the Wednesday meeting attended by the national and zonal arrowheads of the coalition being touted as the “ANC” of Nigeria, informed News Express that the meeting which dragged into late hours of Wednesday, could not reach a consensus on the candidate to choose, due to NIM’s stringent measures as well as focus on giving the country a fresh breed political leadership.

The shortlisting, said our source, has been adjourned till another two weeks when the committee will meet in Abuja to take a final decision on the matter as well as on the issue of which coalition party to adopt, endorse or use for elections in both Ekiti and Osun states later this year.

News Express was however reliably informed that different interests within NIM and its newly formed coalition, comprising 35 political parties, labour and civil society movements, have been pressurising Agbakoba to take up the challenge of running as their candidate in the 2019 general elections. The legal icon and former president of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was said to have asked for some time to consult his bar constituency as well the human rights community and so yet to make up his mind as at the time the Wednesday screening ended.

A top official of NIM who spoke on the condition of anonymity told News Express: “Agbakoba is certainly highly respected across board in Nigeria and also among majority of the new breed political forces in the country, especially among the youth, tagged ‘Youth with PVC’. He belongs, in ideas and perspectives, to the Nigerian youth and to the emerging political order of the fresh breed political leaders.

“He is not part of the entrenched corrupt political system of Nigeria, in actual fact, he has always fought it and he fully understands NIM's agenda of giving the country a new breed leadership.

“If Agbakoba agrees to run, then he may have to square up with the likes Alhaji Dr Abduljahlil Tafawa Balewa, former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, Col Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, Prof Pat Utomi, Dr Obby Ezekwesili, among others being touted by the fresh breed across the country.”

When News Express contacted NIM’s Deputy Director-General, Mallam Naseer Kura, on phone this morning to comment on the development, he said the movement was yet to agree on a particular presidential candidate or coalition party to be adopted for the prosecution of the fresh breed agenda for “electoral revolution” in the 2019

“It’s true we are yet to reach a consensus on this matter (presidential candidate) at the last steering committee meeting on Wednesday, but that will be done before the governorship primary in Ekiti. Though we are still shortlisting materials for the 2019 elections, the names already with us are currently being screened. We are more concerned about the individuals, what they can offer the country and their detachment from the corrupt old brigade. We want to make sure that any candidate we endorse will go down well with the majority of Nigerians,” said Kura.

On the likely endorsement of Agbakoba, Kura said: “I have said that the screening is not over yet. And no party, whether Labour Party, Accord, Alliance for New Nigeria, Advance Democratic Party, KOWA or Social Democratic Party among others has been endorsed as our coalition party for 2019

“I am aware that some forces within our movement, mostly the youth and women are routing for Agbakoba, but all I can say is that any of the aspirants, be it Balewa, Col Umar, Duke, Utomi and so on, who meets the criteria and standard of NIM by April 2018, will be adopted as our preferred candidate to run for the presidency in 2019 on our endorsed coalition party, which will be moulded in the spirit of African National Congress, ANC of South Africa.”

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