Okorocha, Onu, Ayade, others reject APC governors’ list of consensus candidate
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (left); Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Musthapha; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akapbio; President Muhammadu Buhari; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Minister of State Mines and Steel, Uche Ogah at the valedictory session the President held for outgoing members of his cabinet at the State House, Abuja… yesterday. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA
As the All progressive congress (APC) delegates prepare to cast ballots for their preferred presidential aspirants, seven of the aspirants have rejected the shortlist of five presidential aspirants presented by the party governors to President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt any of them as a consensus candidate.
The aspirants led by the former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu claimed that they were not consulted before the Governors arrived at the decision.
The aggrieved aspirants described the move as not only self-centered but an attempt to sideline other aspirants, particularly those from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of the country.
The aspirants are 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.
Urging their supporters to disregard the report, Onu stressed that neither the Governors’ Forum nor Northern Governors had any moral or constitutional jurisdiction to determine the political fate of the South.
The aspirants queried the alleged selection of only one candidate from the Southeast which had never produced Nigeria’s president and the picking of three from the Southwest, a zone that has had 16 years at the Presidency, and the inclusion of the one from the South-South, a zone which has also produced a president for six years.
They particularly claimed that five of the northern governors had been promised the office of vice president, which had suddenly prompted some of the governors to push for the zoning of the APC presidential ticket to the South.
