The list of the presidential aspirants who scaled through the hurdle of the screening exercise of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has emerged, The New Diplomat can report.
On Friday, the chairman of the Screening committee, Chief John Oyegun, following the conclusion of the screening exercise submitted the report to the leadership of the APC.
While addressing journalists, former chairman of the APC screening panel, Odigie-Oyegun had said all the aspirants passed the ‘basic constitutional’ requirement, but that the panel had to shortlist some aspirants.
Odigie-Oyegun noted that the pruning was necessary to ensure that the party puts it best foot forward in the forthcoming General elections.
“And on that basis (Constitution) every single member or aspirant that presented himself qualified because it was basic and simple. But we are in the governing party and we are keen on continuing the process of replacing—at a proper time—our president with another member of the party.
“It is on that basis that we made our final shortlist. I don’t want to read the names which I think would leave to you (Chairman) but we have a shortlist. We brought the number severely down to 13.
“We could have cut it a little shorter but we wanted deliberately the younger elements to surface for them to be seen, for them to be noticed and no noise. We would hand them over to the party and it is for the party to decide whom their candidate will be,” he had said.
In a copy of the report sighted by The New Diplomat, former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Ahmed Lawan; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state; Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state were among the 13 aspirants that scaled through the screening exercise.
Others are Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar; former Niger Delta Minister Godswill Akpabio; former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi; former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; former Technology Minister Chris Onu and Tein Jack-Rich.
Among the big names that failed to make the list are former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, who is currently facing legal issues over allegations of laundering a total of N2.9billion while serving as Governor.
It would be recalled that up till the morning of the screening day, it was unsure if Okorocha would make it before the screening panel led by Odigie-Oyegun. The former governor had been remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and was only granted bail application hours before his screening.
Also, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade; former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; the only female aspirant, B. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, all failed to make the list.
