5 presidential aspirants reject APC governors’ recommendation

Five All Progressives Congress presidential aspirants have rejected the decision of the governors of the party to prune the list of aspirants to five ahead of the primaries.

The five aspirants issued a statement after a meeting on Tuesday, to reject the choice of National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi his Ebonyi counterpart, David Umahi and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

The aspirants are, Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; Former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; Ex-Minister for Science And Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha; and businessman, Tein Jack-Rich.

Onu issued the statement on behalf of the other four. It said: “In the past few hours, we have been bombarded with calls and messages from my supporters and concerned Nigerians on a list of five presidential aspirants submitted to President Buhari to choose from.

“As long as we are concerned, no list has been submitted to Mr. President. The move by the governors is considered a joke taken to the extreme with the aim of playing with the intellect of Nigerians, particularly us from the South-East.

“Mr President’s directive is very simple; that all presidential aspirants, including those from the North, should meet and harmonise in order to produce a single candidate. As it stands, we have not been consulted or attended a meeting where it was agreed that such names be sent to Mr President.

“In the so-called list, out of the five names, only one was selected from the South-East, and we are talking about fairness and justice to the South. What the Governors have done is a mere picnic in the park. These are the same governors talking about equity, justice and fairness, yet in a clandestine manner, purportedly sidelined the South East.

“In the absence of any harmonised agreement, no list has been submitted to Mr. President. What they have done is just nothing but a charade which is bound to fail.

“We also have it on good authority that the majority of these Governors have been promised and also given various forms of gratifications to thwart the process in favour of one aspirant and such grand plot will fail woefully.

“More so, the party led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu remains the official organ of the party through which decisions taken by stakeholders in the party will be communicated and acted upon. In the absence of that, any other move remains null and void.

“We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard such information, as we remain in the race, hence no consensus agreement has been reached amongst all contestants.”