- ‘I’ve Not Anointed Any Candidate — President
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently enmeshed in a major controversy over the choice of its presidential flagbearer for the forthcoming General election as the announcement of the party’s consensus candidate had been dismissed and met with rejection in the last two hours of drama, Monday.
The National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu while addressing the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party on Monday announced that Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has been chosen as the consensus candidate of the party ahead of its primary election scheduled for June 7.
Adamu claimed the decision to adopt Lawan as the consensus candidate was reached after consultation with President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, in a twist, Buhari while addressing Northern governors elected under the platform of the APC said he has not endorsed any of the aspirants seeking to be the presidential candidate of the APC.
The President who met with the Northern APC governors at the State House, Abuja, Monday afternoon, also said he is in agreement with the position of the APC northern governors that power should be shifted to the southern part of the country in 2023.
Those in attendance include Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Aminu Masari of Katsina, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Abubakar Bello of Niger, Yahaya Inuwa of Gombe, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara.
Briefing State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja, Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong said that the President made it clear that he has no anointed candidate in the presidential primary.
According to him, “Out of that discussions, Mr. President, as a believer in democratic process, believe that any candidate must emerge through a transparent process.
“The president told us that for the APC presidential primaries, he has no anointed candidate and therefore directed that the Progressive Governors’ Forum meet with the National Working Committee of the party to agree and proffer further solutions and recommendations for his successor.
“And based on his directive, the Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum has summoned a meeting for 5:00 (local time) today, after which we will make further suggestions to the President,” Lalong added.
Also, the Northern Governors shortly after meeting with Buhari said they stand by their decision to zone the party’s presidential ticket to the south.
Speaking further during the press conference, Lalong said the position of the governors in the communiqué from the meeting last Saturday still remain firm.
It would be recalled that Northern governors on Saturday night had endorsed the transfer of power to the South in a bid to allow for equity and fairness.
Lalong added that the governors, during the meeting with Buhari informed him about their decision to back the South to produce the country’s next president.
