By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
Some presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the short-list of aspirants submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration as the consensus candidate by APC governors from the north.
They include Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Minister for Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, former governor Rochas Okorocha and businessman Tein Jack-Rich.
Stonix News reports that Northern APC governors had recommended the names of five aspirants to the president ahead of today’s take-off of the national convention.
Those on the list are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi; former Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi and governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.
The Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, confirmed the shortlist.
However, in a statement signed on their behalf by Onu on Tuesday, the seven aspirants maintained that the action of the Northern APC governors is a joke taken too far.
“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 inorder 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 in order to thwart the process in favour of one aspirant and such grand plot will fail woefully.
“Moreso, 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,” the statement read.
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