Senate President, Ahmed Lawan who many had thought would possibly be the anointed one by President Mohammadu Buhari to succeed him, has stepped down for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Earlier, the governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi , apparently ignorant about the body language of the Senate President, stepped down for him.
Other candidates from the north and some from the south including Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio have likewise withdrawn their ambitions for the sake of Tinubu.
This came after governors of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) from the northern agreed on the need for power shift to the south.
All of these happened as
President Buhari on return to the country after attending the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS, Saturday night convened a meeting with all the 23 presidential aspirants of the party asking them to reach an agreement and come up with a concensus candidate before the special convention between 6th and 8th June, 2022.
The meeting held at the State House, Abuja was a continuation of the ongoing consultative process aimed at ensuring a smooth and strategic emergence of a standard bearer, who will lead the APC to a resounding victory in the upcoming presidential election.
President Buhari said “looking at the assemblage of personalities and considering your rich pedigree of accomplisenta in life, I have come to the conclusion that our party, the APC, is rich in human resources and also that our nation is blessed with capable people that can successfully steer the ship of state into the future.
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“Amongst other things, I reminded the APC governor’s of the need for the party to proceed to the 2023 presidential elections with strength , unity of purpose and to present a flag bearer who will give Nigerians a sense of hope and confidence , while ensuring victory for our party. I extend a similar reminder to all of you distinguished aspirants”.
While party delegates are seriously consulting to come up with a consensus candidate as directed by President Buhari, popular opinions are that the equation is in favour of Tinubu as Vice President,Prof. Yemi Osinbajo appeared to have lost the right of becoming the anointed one.
Below is the joint statement by APC northern governors endorsing power shift to the south.
