The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday began moves to pick its consensus candidate with President Muhammadu Buhari explaining qualities the party’s flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election must possess.
Buhari, who said this during his meeting with the 23 APC governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, advised the party to think of the right candidate that possessed the qualities he outlined.
The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, in an interview on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said the President did not disclose his preferred aspirant but outlined qualities the APC presidential candidate must have.
The President had in an interview with Channels Television in January said he had a preferred presidential candidate but he would not reveal him.
Also, his media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, in an interview with Channels Television on May 12, stated, “In a previous interview when the President was asked whether he had a favourite candidate, he answered yes; but he would not mention him because mischief might happen to that person.”
Although the President had kept his preferred aspirant to himself, contestants including the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, informed him of their intention to contest the presidency.
Besides the three chieftains, others vying for the party’s presidential ticket include a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; a former Imo State governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha and former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
Others are Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade; his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi, an ex-Minister of State, Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello; Jigawa State governor, Mohammed Badaru and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Ahmed Yerima.
Also on the list are Senator Ajayi Borroffice; the only female aspirant, B. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, Pastor Nicholas Felix Nwagbo; former Speaker of Representative, Dimeji Bankole; President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawal; former Minister of Information, Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu and Mr Tein Jack Ric.
After two postponements, the ruling party began the screening of its presidential aspirants on Monday when aspirants including Tinubu, Umahi, Nwajiuba, Ondo-North lawmaker, Boroffice, Bakare and Ohanenye, were screened by a committee headed by a former National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odige-Oyegun.
The Punch
