Okorocha, Ayade, Four Others Presidential Aspirants Reject Northern Govs List

Seven Presidential aspirants under the All Progressives Congress have rejected the purported list of aspirants said to have been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The former Minister for Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, who led aggrieved aspirants in a statement issued on Tuesday shortly after a brief meeting in Abuja described the move as shambolic and an already failed attempt to sideline other aspirants, particularly those from the South-East and South-South

Onu in a joint statement, distanced themselves from the list whilst describing the move as a joke and total absurdity taken too far.

The seven aspirants who joined Onu are Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha and businessman Tein Jack-Rich.

In a joint statement issued by Onu on their behalf, the group distanced themselves from the purported list.

The statement read, “In the past few hours, we have been bombarded with calls and messages from my 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 to play with the intellect of Nigerians particularly us from the South-East.

“Mr President’s directive is very simple, that all Presidential aspirants including those from the North should meet and harmonise to produce a single candidate. As it stands we have not been consulted or attended a meeting where it was agreed that such names be sent to Mr President.

“In the so-called list out of the five names only one was selected from the South-East and we are talking about fairness and justice to the South. What the Governors have done is a mere picnic in the park. These are the same Governors talking about Equity, justice and fairness yet in a clandestine manner purportedly sidelined the South East.

“In the absence of any harmonised agreement no list has been submitted to Mr President, what they have done is just nothing but a charade which is bound to fail.
“We also have it on good authority that the majority of these Governors have been promised and also given various forms of gratifications to thwart the process in favour of one aspirant and such grand plot will fail woefully.

“Moreso, the party led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu remains the official organ of the party through which decisions taken by stakeholders in the party will be communicated and acted upon, in the absence of that any other move remains null and void.

“We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard such information, as we remain in the race hence no consensus agreement has been reached amongst all contestants.”