Fourteen of the APC’s 22 state governors govern states in Northern Nigeria.
Hours before the start of the ruling All Progressives Convention, northern governors of the All Progressives Congress have met with President Muhammadu Buhari, maintaining their stand to zone the party’s presidential ticket to the south.
The majority of the Northern APC governors had earlier called on the party to pick its presidential candidate from Southern Nigeria.
Fourteen of the APC’s 22 state governors govern states in Northern Nigeria.
According to a communiqué signed after the meeting, the governors said, “After a careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in the office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.
“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in any way affected by the decisions taken by another political party.”
Speaking on behalf of the governors, Simon Lalong of Plateau State regretted that the communiqué from the meeting got leaked to the public before they officially informed the President of their resolution.[story_link align="left"]110002[/story_link]
He, however, noted that the governors had to inform the President in person as part of last-minute preparations for tomorrow’s primary elections.
Asked why their Kogi State counterpart, Bello, was absent from the meeting, a distraught governor El-Rufai (of Kaduna) said it was not compulsory for all 14 of them to agree on the southern ticket.
According to him, Bello had excused himself from the meeting with the President because he rejected the resolution made by the governors.[story_link align="left"]110003[/story_link]
El-Rufai argued that 13 out of 14 yeses are enough to front the agenda for a southern candidate.
Those in attendance include Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Aminu Masari of Katsina, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Abubakar Bello of Niger, Yahaya Inuwa of Gombe, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara.
The meeting comes amid announcement of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as consensus presidential aspirant by the party’s national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.