2023 presidency: APC northern govs disagree with national chairman, insist on southern candidate

Northern Governors of the All Progressives Congress, on Monday insisted the party should zone its presidential ticket to the South.

They stated this after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on the issue.

This is coming after the party’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, had reportedly announced the incumbent Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the consensus presidential candidate of the APC, less than 24 hours to the primary election in Abuja.

The governors in attendance during the meeting with the President are Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Aminu Masari of Katsina, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Abubakar Bello of Niger, Yahaya Inuwa of Gombe, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara.

The northern governors had after their meeting Saturday night asked the party to zone its presidential ticket to the South.

They also asked aspirants from the northern region to withdraw. These include their Kogi State counterpart, Governor Yahaya Bello, who is also vying for the party’s Presidential ticket.

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According to a communiqué signed after the meeting, the governors said, “After a careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in the office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in any way affected by the decisions taken by another political party.”

Speaking on behalf of the governors, Simon Lalong of Plateau State regretted that the communiqué from the meeting got leaked to the public before they officially informed the President of their resolution.

He, however, noted that the governors had to inform the President in person as part of last-minute preparations for tomorrow’s primary elections.

Asked why their Kogi State counterpart, Bello, was absent from the meeting, Governor El-Rufai (of Kaduna) said it was not compulsory for all 14 of them to agree on the southern ticket.

He said Bello had excused himself from the meeting with the President because he rejected the resolution made by the governors.