Only presidential aspirants from the Southern part of the country will take part in the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress, APC and possibly emerge President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
This has raised the hopes of frontline presidential aspirants in the party, such as former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu,former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of State, Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi and other aspirants from the South.
At a meeting between President Buhari and all the APC Presidential aspirants held at the State House, Abuja, on Saturday night, President Buhari aligned with the position of Northern APC governors, who demanded for power shift to the South.
This implies that Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello have lost out in their bid to emerge the presidential candidate of the APC. Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State withdrew from the race.
“After careful deliberations, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the Southern states of Nigeria. It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding the principles is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country” part of the resolution of the Northern Governors stated.
President Buhari urged presidential aspirants from the South to come up with a consensus candidate ahead of the party’s Presidential primary scheduled to kick off on Monday, June 6 in Abuja.
“Without prejudice to your qualifications, I urge all of you to hold consultations amongst yourselves and with the party, with a view to building a consensus in a manner that would help the party reduce the number of aspirants, bring up a formidable candidate and scale down the anxiety of party members.” Buhari said.