Buhari to meet with APC presidential aspirants tonight

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President Muhammadu Buhari will meet with presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday night, ahead of the party’s presidential primary next week.

The meeting will take place in the presidential mansion in Abuja at 8 p.m.

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According to those acquainted with the situation, the President is expected to announce his favored presidential candidate for 2023 at the conference.

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 Presidential Screening Committee, said that the 23 presidential candidates who went before the committee talked about topics that everyone could agree on.

Friday in Abuja, the 7-person committee gave its report to Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, who is the National Chairman of the party.

Our respected national chairman and other distinguished members of the National Working Committee (NWC), it is our pleasure to be here with you today to present our report to you.

“We had the privilege of being inaugurated by you on May 30, and we immediately started work on the same day, after a brief meeting.”

All the aspirants were engaged on the issue of consensus, and it was a pleasant surprise that 98 to 99 percent of them agreed that the party is supreme, that whatever it finally decides with proper consultations, would likely be accepted.

“Though one aspirant said that, yes, I will accept consensus so long as it is settled on me.”

“First, we had 23 presidential aspirants that we interacted with, and my first comment is that we are indeed a very lucky party,” Odigie-Oyegun said.

He went on to say that while 23 presidential candidates showed up for screening, there were other notable Nigerians from within and outside the country who applied but were unable to proceed with their applications.

He said that there was no doubt about the quality of the presidential aspirants and that the committee was surprised by how involved the younger party members were.

The committee was particularly startled by the youths’ life achievements, their understanding of the country’s difficulties, and why they sought the pleasure of leading them, he continued.

“What was important was that they so believed in the country and the party that they were able to pay the sums they paid for its Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to participate in the process.” So, I think the party ought to pat itself on the back for that,” said Odigie-Oyegun, a former APC national chairman and former Edo governor.

He explained that the committee’s report included two parts: a basic constitutional qualification to aspire to be the country’s president; and the aspirant’s capacity to lead and background.

He said that all of the candidates met the minimum requirements set by the Constitution and were qualified because the requirements were simple and clear.

“But we are a governing party, and we are focused on continuing the process and replacing, at the proper time, our president with yet another member of the party,” he said.

So, he said, the ability of the candidates to lead, as well as their background, experience, and knowledge of Nigeria, became very important.

He added that their thoughts on how to deal with difficult challenges and problems, as well as how to propel the country ahead, were also taken into account during the screening.

“It is on that basis that who you are, what you are, and what you have achieved.” And the understanding of your mission and what you think you can do to move the country forward made our final list. I don’t want to read the names. I think we will leave that to you, but we have a short list that brought the number severely down to 13.

“We could have cut it a little shorter,” Odigie-Oyegun added, “but we wanted all the younger elements to surface.”

He explained that the goal was for the younger hopefuls to be seen and noticed before being handed over to the party’s leadership, who would then choose their chosen presidential candidate for the 2023 election.

He added that it was also an opportunity to show off the types of people that worked for the APC and within it, as well as their youth and experience.

This, he added, was to show the world that the APC cared about young people and that when it declared “the young shall aspire,” it meant it.

“This has been showcased in the report we have written.”

“We only drew a word of caution that there is this cleavage that is gradually becoming centre stage in national discourse, between the North and the South and the presidency.”

“And we just want to advise strongly that the party should please think of it in making its decision, address it and let it influence their thoughts because it has its own implications,” he said.

Odigie-Oyegun thanked the leaders of the party for letting him serve on the committee. He also said that even though it was a sensitive and hard job, it was also a fascinating one.

“We all profited immensely from the assignment and think the party will also profit,” he remarked.

He stated that the committee members were pleased to take on the task of doing whatever they could to make the party’s work easier.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), Adamu said the party’s leadership would investigate the report after receiving it.

Among 13 APC presidential aspirants are, Former Minister of State for Education, Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba; former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osibanjo; former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former Minister of Niger Delta Development, Sen. Godswill Akpabio; former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu;

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