President Muhammadu Buhari has assured members of the All Progressives Congress that a consensus presidential candidate won’t be imposed on the party for the 2023 elections.
He declared before the party’s governors of northern states that he has “no preferred candidate,” and has “anointed no one.”
According to a statement by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman titled, ‘I have anointed no one, there shall be no imposition, says President Buhari’, the President said this on Monday at a meeting with APC governors from the northern region.
The statement reads;
President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday afternoon cleared all doubts about where he stands on the choice of a presidential candidate for the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, declaring before the party’s 14 governors of northern states that he has ‘no preferred candidate’, and has ‘anointed no one’, and is determined to ensure that ‘there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party’.
The President said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC governors to feel the same way: You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain. We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The Party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody.
It added;
Earlier in their addresses, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Bako Lalong and Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of the Progressive Governors Forum, said they had come to affirm the position of the Northern Governors that the party’s candidate in the presidential election shall come from the southern part of the country.
They apologised to the President for the leakage of their signed memorandum which was not in support of any particular candidate and gave assurances to the President on their readiness to accept his leadership on the matter.
Read Also: Breaking: APC Chairman, Adamu Announces Lawan As Consensus Candidate
APC Consensus Candidate
Buhari’s statement comes shortly after National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) announced Senate President, Ahmed Lawan as the consensus presidential candidate of the party.
According to The Nation, Senator Abdullahi Adamu announced the development on Monday at the meeting of the party’s national working committee (NWC), held in Abuja.
Read Also: APC Northern Govs Withdraw From 2023 Race, Supports Southern Presidency
His adoption of Lawan as consensus candidate is against the position of 11 APC northern Governors, who few days endorsed that power must shift to the South at the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The decision for power shift was made during a meeting of governors in Abuja on Saturday night, with APC Northern governors also requesting that aspirants from the region withdraw.
Unfortunately, Adamu told the National Working Committee that he arrived at the choice of the Senate President after consultation with Buhari, sparking outrage among some Northern leaders.
