Only Ngige, Emefiele, Sylva didn’t submit presidential forms – APC

Out of a total of 28 presidential aspirants under the All Progressives Congress, only three people did not submit their nomination and expression of interest forms after the purchase, the party has said.

The party gave this information through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, while speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday.

According to him, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Petroleum for State, Timipreye Sylva, did not submit their forms.

He said, “For some of them, it’s a bit iffy. What I have this time, we’ve 28 who purchased form and at the last count, we have 25 who made submission.

“But three of them did not. They’re Senator Chris Ngige, Godwin Emefiele and then we have Timipre Sylva.”

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has also said only President Muhammadu Buhari can decide the fate of the government’s appointees who sought to contest the presidential election and either drop the bid or fail to secure the APC ticket.

Morka’s revelation also indicates that the presidential forms bought for the former President Goodluck Jonathan and African Development Bank boss, Akinwumi Adesina, were not submitted.

The AfDB President Adesina, had recently dismissed claims that he is running for the presidency.

This was after a coalition of 28 groups purchased and submitted the nomination and expression of interest forms of the APC on behalf of Adesina.

Though Adesina in a statement issued on Tuesday, maintained that he is not running for president, it is not clear if those who bought the forms have the capacity to fill them by themselves and also submit them.

There are speculations that the APC postponed the screening of its presidential aspirants to May 23 to allow Jonathan and others to submit their nomination forms, but the party’s mouthpiece could confirm that all forms, including that of Jonathan, have been submitted except three.

Former President Jonathan had said he did not authorise the APC presidential nomination forms purchased for him by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association.

The former President, through a statement issued in Abuja by his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, said he had no link to the northern coalition that purchased the form.

But barely 48 hours after dissociating himself from form purchase, Jonathan reportedly joined the APC in Bayelsa and finally made up his mind to vie for the position.