Lagos based pastor, Tunde Bakare, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, former Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, and seven others were not included in the 13 “safe list” of aspirants as put forward by the screening committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), according to emerging details.
The APC presidential screening committee had on Friday announced the disqualification of 10 of the 23 aspirants seeking the party’s ticket to contest the 2023 general poll.
This was stated on Friday afternoon by a former national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who is chairman of the screening committee, while submitting the report of the screening exercise to the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu in Abuja.
The committee later said that all 23 aspirants screened were cleared and qualified, but the committee recommended a “safe list” of 13 names.
The disqualified aspirant names were not released to the public.
According to the document obtained by The New Diplomat on Saturday, those recommended in the so-called “safe list’ are; APC national leader, Bola Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; former minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; Senate President Ahmad Lawan; Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi.
Others included former minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; former Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun; Ebonyi State governor David Umahi, and his Jigawa State counterpart, Abubakar Badaru.
Two other aspirants, former minister of the Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio and Mr Tein Jack-Rich, were also believed to have made the list after the committee submitted its report on Friday.
Apart from Bakare, Nnamani and Bankole, others excluded were; former Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha; Cross Rivers State governor, Ben Ayade; former Zamfara State governor, Sani Yerima, former Minister of Information and Culture, Ikeobasi Mokelu; US-based Pastor, Felix Nicholas, and the only APC female aspirant, Uju Ken-Ohanenye, the document revealed.
