7 Southern presidential aspirants protest APC northern governors’ five-man list

Seven Presidential aspirants from the South on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress have rejected the names of five presidential aspirants submitted to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, as most preferred by northern governors.

The aspirants protested that they were not consulted before the northern governors arrived at the decision.

The aggrieved aspirants are Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; former Minister for State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Minister for Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; former Governor Rochas Okorocha and businessman Tein Jack-Rich.

They made this known in a joint statement on Tuesday, distancing themselves from the list.

The names submitted to Buhari are former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu; a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

The statement read, “In the past few hours we have been bombarded with calls and messages from our 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”.