…Fayemi, Amosun, Akpabio, Boroffice, Bankole, Badaru step down for Tinubu

After days of horse trading and deft intriguing moments, members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday converged on the Eagles Square, to elect their presidential flag bearer.

President Muhammadu Buhari while delivering his address early this morning called on the party not to allow the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) drag the country backwards by affording them the opportunity to return to power.

The president recalled that the APC inherited a country where a vast swathe of land was under insurgency and infrastructure decay and a nearly dead economy despite crude oil selling above $100 per barrel for years

He pleaded with the delegates to avoid acrimony and maintain the spirit of sportsmanship advising the National Working  Committee of the party to strive towards keeping a united front, follow due process and abide by the laws.

Buhari enjoined the leadership to create level playing field for all aspirants in the crucial exercise, urging them to follow due process in all party decisions.

The president assured the leadership of the party not to hesitate to ask for his support to propel the party to the victory it seeks.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo while addressing the delegates enjoined them to vote rightly saying that , “when you vote tonight, know that your vote carries the answer to your prayers for our country and its future.”

He said he has seen the prospects of Nigeria harnessing in its bitumen, gold, oil and gas, manufacture vehicles, establish largest industrial cities, sell shoes to the word, build drones, helicopters, planes and in two decades to become a nation sending astronauts to space.

He said Nigeria has talents to do these if it runs a honest and transparent economy and promised to continue with President Mohammadu Buhari successes.

Also, another aspirant , Asiwaju Bola Tinubu while addressing delegates said that he was the right person for the office of the president, adding that he believes he is the person to transform the country and cited his performance in Lagos

“My experience as Executive Governor of Lagos makes me unique among other aspirants. I am competent to start from day one.

I am a unifying leader with an extensive  structure that has won   election after election

Governor of Cross river state, prof. Ben Ayodeji in his address lamented the insecurity situation in the country and charged that all hands must be on deck to solve it.

His words’l present myself as a great intellect with a background of academic. I am on old head on a young shoulder”

No fewer than 23 aspirants showed interest to contest for the office of president, contestants which include Governor Kayode Fayemi; ex-Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio; a former Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun; Senator Ajayi Boroffice; the Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, who stepped down for Tinubu.

A presidential aspirant, Nicholas Felix, who stepped down for Osinbajo said the party could not have a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

But a former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, who announced his withdrawal from the race on Monday, called for a review of the Constitution to address the issue of federal character.

He said, “Today’s convention suddenly has changed. It is no longer based on the zoning principle. I will suggest strongly that we take a second look at the constitution, the area that concerns federal character which gives all parts of Nigeria equal opportunity to feel like an integral part of the country.”

Also, former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu, argued that the South-East should produce President Buhari’s successor.

He lamented that it was only the South East that had not produced president from the south.

Also former minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi charged delegates to vote for a competent aspirant, insisting that he was the best among the aspirants.

Voting was still on early today, as the time of going to bed, but the contest was between the Vice President Osinbajo, Tinubu and  Amaechi. 2,203 delegates were accredited.

However Tinubu seem likely to pick the party presidential ticket.