Buhari may disclose preferred presidential candidate at meeting with APC aspirants tonight

President Muhammadu Buhari will meet with the presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday night.

Sources say Buhari is expected to declare his preferred 2023 presidential candidate at the meeting slated for 8pm at the presidential villa, Abuja.

When the President met with APC governors on Tuesday in Abuja, he solicited the support of the governors and other stakeholders in picking his successor, appealing to them to allow “our interests to converge”.

Buhari’s choice will be among Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ahmad Lawan, Rotimi Amaechi, Ogbonnaya Onu, Kayode Fayemi, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and Tunde Bakare.

The APC screening panel has shortlisted 13 out of 23 presidential hopefuls for participation in the primary.

Chairman of the screening panel, John Oyegun,  presented the committee’s report to Abdullahi Adamu, the APC national chairman, on Friday.

Oyegun had said, “First, we have 23 aspirants that we interacted with and my first comment is that we are indeed a lucky party. The point I want to make is the quality of the people that want to govern this country.

“We are a governing party and so the ability to lead, the background, experience… it is on the basis that we made a shortlist. I won’t want to read the names, I’d leave that to you, but we brought the number down to 13.”

Imran Muhammad, an APC member privy to the inner workings of the party, had shared what is believed to be the names of the shortlisted aspirants.

Those included in the list are Tinubu, Osinbajo, Amaechi, Lawan, Fayemi, Nwajiuba, and Onu.

Others are Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun; David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi, Muhammad Badaru, governor of Jigawa; Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom; and Tein Jack-Rich, an oil magnate.

The APC presidential primaries will hold from June 6 to 8.