Seven Presidential Aspirants Of APC Reject Governors’ List, Support Adamu
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Things are fast falling apart for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of its national convention scheduled to hold today, as seven of its presidential aspirants on Tuesday morning rejected and dismissed the names of five presidential aspirants allegedly submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for the selection and endorsement of a consensus candidate.
They specifically urged Nigerians to disregard the purported shortlisted names by the governors, stressing that neither the Governors’ Forum nor Northern Governors had any moral or constitutional jurisdiction to determine the political fate of the South.
The seven presidential aspirants namely Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, former Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, former Minister of State for Education, Prof. Emeka Nwajiuba; Senator Rochas Okorocha and businessman Tein Jack-Rich, declared that they were not consulted before the Governors arrived at the shambolic and already failed attempt to foist some aspirants on them and the Party.
The concerned aspirants in a statement in Abuja shortly after a brief meeting, declared that the failed attempt to sideline other aspirants particularly those from the South-East and South-south is a joke taken too far, stressing that the move was a total absurdity as it was against the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The statement which was issued by Dr. Onu on their behalf, distanced themselves from the purported list of five presidential aspirants that the governors purportedly submitted to President Buhari.
The noted that the motive of the Governors was in their selfish personal interest and not that of the South, saying that at no time did President Buhari equivocally support zoning of the Presidency to the South.
They however said that they were in support of the Presidency going to the South especially the Southeast, stressing that neither they nor any other South-east presidential aspirant was consulted before the delusional decision of the governors was taken.
The APC seven presidential aspirants specifically queried the alleged selection of only one candidate from South-east which had never produced Nigeria’s president and the picking of three from the Southwest, a zone that has had 16 years at the Presidency and the inclusion of the one from the South-south, a zone which has also produced a President for six years.
The statement further said; “The governors were merely acting based on gratifications being promised to them by a certain Yoruba aspirant from the South-west, who was also included in the list.
“The Northern governors had been promised the office of Vice President, which had suddenly prompted some of the governors to push for the zoning of the All Progressive Congress presidential ticket to the South.
The Governors were paying lip service to their reason for zoning the Presidency to the South, claiming it was based on equity and justice” it said.
The aspirants also said that if truly the governors meant their words, the South-east must be considered first for the Presidency and its aspirants subsequently tabled before Buhari to select from.
They therefore commended the decisions made so far by the party leadership, adding that the leadership of the Party remained the official organ through which decisions are made and adhered to thus, urged all party stakeholders to galvanise support for the Adamu-led national executive.
