Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Senator Godswill Akpabio has stepped down from the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary race for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Akpabio called on all delegates to vote for Tinubu, saying the former Lagos Governor deserves the presidential ticket of the APC.
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National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged delegates of the party to elect him as the presidential candidate of the party.
He said he has what it takes to lead the nation to a brighter future if handed the party’s presidential ticket.
Addressing delegates at the APC Presidential convention, Tinubu said he has right experience and connection to put the country on the part of progress.
He said: “I have the experience. I have lead Lagos out of the dangerous times and placed it as the 5th largest economy in Africa today. I will use the experience and it will benefit all Nigerians.
“I am a unified leader and I have built political structures across the country. I stepped forward because I believe I can lead the party to victory and to the next level.
“My experience makes me unique along other aspirants. I will fight terrorism and insecurity to the very end. I mourn those that have been lost and ensure that it is eliminated from our land.
“Let me be that man to lead. Let us always honour the promise we made to Nigerians. I am confident, competent, courageous and ready to start from day one.”
A presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Pastor Tunde Bakare has insisted he will win the party’s presidential ticket.
He described himself as the number 16 President, stating number 15, which is President Muhammadu Buhari, must help him to emerge.
He said the party is yet to reach out to him regarding consensus talks and stepping down.
While urging the party to be mannerly in communicating its decisions to candidates, especially with regards to selecting its flagbearer, Bakare said he had reached out to all delegates for the convention via SMS, stating he does not believe in financial inducements.
While expressing confidence that he would emerge the party’s flagbearer because according to him, “he carries grace,” he however stated the would support whoever emerges.
Speaking during a Channels TV interview at the venue of the convention in Abuja, he said: “Yes, I got to all the delegates and sent them bulk SMS in different languages. There is no single delegate – not the ones that have been banned because when they were running all around, they were going to statutory delegates that cannot vote tonight .
“I didn’t go to them. I got the information and booklet of all the delegates in every state and every local government and everyone got a message from me, and many responded.
“The delegates will vote for whoever they choose. We must stop all these financial inducements. If delegates and citizens allow politicians to take advantage of them, they will visit them around elections and rob their treasury for the next four years. We want to bring change into that order.
“I am going to be on the ballot because I paid for my form. In a decent and orderly society, if I apply to be a candidate and I paid all the necessary fees, courtesy demands that you tell me that – ‘oh, your name is not there.’ I can’t listen to Lalong.
“I did not have any communication from the party and I would not get information from television because I went to the secretariat and paid my fees. You cleared me. Whether I am disqualified nobody has said that, and nobody has said ‘will you step down?’
“Yes, I believe in the supremacy of the party but the party must have manners to tell people that – ‘okay, you have gone through this, but in the interest of our party, we want A,B,C to step down.’ I don’t get information from radio and television. The only promise I made to Nigerians from the day I started and till now, is to lead a cutting-edge nation.
“As far as I’m concerned, I offered myself. You can see the voting number dwindling over the years because people do not trust these same people with lots of experience that has brought us to this sorry state.
“I am not dissatisfied with the process because every process has its challenges and it is not easy to organise 23 adults. The moment this is over, whoever emerges we will support.”
When asked if he is confident that he will emerge he said: “Who knows, I carry grace, favour and God-factor. Give me an opportunity to speak to the delegates and let’s see what will happen.
“I will be the 16th president and when that time comes, number 15 must help number 16 because I did a great deal to ensure number 15 is enthroned in this country. I am a man of faith and what I speak is full of faith.”
Nasarawa Governor and Chairman of Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) convention, Abdullahi Sule, has denied Governors in the party have pruned down the number of candidates for the primary to three from five.
Noting the party is set for an election in the event that the 23 candidates do not agree on a consensus, he said that President Muhammadu Buhari would have preferred a consensus candidate to reduce rancour.
Speaking during a Channels interview at the venue of the convention, he said: “People are actually mistaken and forgetting what the electoral act says. The governors have no power to reduce the number of aspirants, not even the party. According to section 84 subsection 9 to 10 of the act, it shows clearly that if one person says I am not going to withdraw, then, there is going to be an election.
“As far as we are concerned, we are ready for election, and if all the 23 people that are there are screened by the party and allowed for election, we will conduct an election.
“So, the idea of pruning down or selecting a number of people that Governors do is just to reduce the number of people that we intend to support in order to reduce the tension. It is not necessary to force anybody actually to step down.
“The number of people that we will be supporting has not been pruned down to three, it is still five.
“Sometimes you don’t always get what You want. I think Mr President definitely wanted consensus in order to reduce the rancour
However, the president is a democrat and if he tries to convince people and they do not agree, he tells them to go out on the field and do it.”
An APC chieftain, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, added: “Nobody is going to introduce anything new this evening. All we are going to do is to follow the rules as laid down by the guidelines and the constitution of our party.
“There is a room for consensus and there is also room for proper election where the candidates are not able to come to terms with who among them will be the flag bearer of the party.
“We are hoping that we will showcase what makes APC tick as a political party. Also, there is a school of thought that wants this thing to be a consensus thing so that there won’t be any rancour after all is said and done.
“As an umpire, whatever they bring is what I will take. I want the best for the party so that after the convention, we can all go back home and start the electioneering campaign as one member of the same family.”
Senator Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) has stated there are ongoing efforts to reduce the list of proposed presidential aspirants to two.
He stated as at Tuesday evening, the contest was between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo.
Gaya spoke in a live interview with Channels TV at the primary ground in Abuja monitored by The Nation.
The Nation reports those initially proposed were Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Rotimi Amaechi; Governor Kayode Fayemi and Governor Dave Umahi.
But after a fresh deliberation, the list was reduced to three aspirants with Tinubu, Osibanjo and Amaechi making the new list.
Gaya said: “Well, we are still at the process. We know during conventions like this, decision are taken at the last minute and when done at the last minute, people accept that decision.
“Yes, we are trying to trim down. All that we know is that the candidate at the presidency should go to the south. And as it is now, it is going to the south, so that we can have a northern vice-president.
“If we don’t agree on one person, atleast two or three persons will go to poll. The party wants the aspirants contesting to be reduced to two or even one.
“The two are Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, so it comes down to the South West. The party would not simply say they’ve dropped a candidate.
“When the process begins, the candidate will mount the podium and tell us if they are stepping down, and who they are stepping down for.”
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrived Eagle Square, venue of the All Progressives Congress(APC) presidential primary.
They arrived the Eagle Square around 3.30pm and were seen walking roundin a group.
The anti- graft agency was also at the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi has said he has not withdrawn from the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress(APC).
There have been reports making the round in Abuja that Fayemi has withdrawn from the race and accepted the pruning down of the list of aspirants by his colleagues.
However responding to enquires, Special Adviser for the Governor, Yinka Oyebode said Fayemi remains the leading aspirant in the race.
He said: “That is a fake news. Nothing like that. Dr Kayode Fayemi is a leading aspirant in the race and looks good to win the contest.”
Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello has said he remains the leading candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and will only step down if President Muhammadu Buhari asks him to.
Bello, who is one of the 23 aspirants cleared to contest for the party’s presidential ticket, alleged there is a conspiracy against him by some Northern APC Governors and elites.
The Governor described himself as a leading aspirant that would win overwhelmingly if the process is transparent and credible.
He warned any decision to exclude him from the ballot is a recipe for bigger trouble for the party .
Bello, who spoke to State House Correspondents after his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said that the APC will retain power at the centre if only it plays by the rules.
“Getting into the arena today, I will win overwhelmingly if the process is credible,” he said with self-assurance.
He said there was no need for him to be excluded in the primary, claiming that he represents the youths and the downtrodden.
Bello said northern APC Governors did not consult him when they took the decision that power should shift to the south, stating it was not binding on him.
He reiterated his opposition to rotational presidency, saying that it doesn’t give room for the emergence of a competent person to pilot the affairs of the country.
He said the visit to the President was to clear the air on his actions.
Seven presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the five aspirants proposed sent to President Muhammadu Buhari by Governors.
A statement on Tuesday by the aspirants after a brief meeting in Abuja, distanced themselves from the purported list.
The aspirants include: Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade; former Minister for State for Education Emeka Nwajiuba; former Minister for Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; former Imo Governor Rochas Okorocha and businessman Tein Jack-Rich.
The claimed that they were not consulted before the governors arrived at the decision
Describing the whole exercise as shambolic and failed attempt to sideline other aspirants particularly those from the South-East and South-South regions, the aspirants rallied support for the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
The statement reads: “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 in order 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.
“More so, 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.”
Those shortlisted by the Governors are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi; former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Ebonyi Governor Dave Umahi.
The Governors after meeting with the President said they will return to the villa after meeting with the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, and other stakeholders.
Police have teargassed accredited journalists who were trying to access the Eagle Square, venue of APC presidential primary.
The incident happened at the entrance gate facing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka however apologised to the journalists before assisting them to gain access into the square.
He said: “I am sorry about the incident involving the use of tear gas by the police at the Foreign Affairs Ministry Access Gate of Eagle Square.
“Some of our accredited journalists were affected. As soon as I was notified, I went there and helped to give access to all accredited journalists.
“I hope everyone is all settled in now at the Convention”.