13 governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are insisting on presidential power moving South in 2023.
The governors told a news conference Monday that they stand with the memo leaked over the weekend in which they endorsed a power shift and advised Northern APC presidential aspirants to step down.
The news conference came after the governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari at State House, Abuja.
The chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong dismissed reports that President Buhari has anointed the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan as the APC’s presidential candidate.
Various media organisations had reported that the APC National Chairman, Adamu Abdullahi told members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that the President of the Senate was President Buhari’s choice.
Alhaji Abdullahi was also reported to have said that Lawan would be the party’s consensus candidate.
The news conference by the 13 Northern APC governors has however thrown up more questions than answers.
Did President Buhari endorse Lawan?
If he did, did he inform the governors when they met on Monday?
One noticeable absentee from the Northern governors' news conference was the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello who is himself running for president.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai pointed out that his absence would not affect the decision by the governors to zone the presidency to the South.
He said it was Governor Bello’s right to excuse himself.
A video of Governor Bello angrily walking out after a meeting with his governor colleagues had earlier surfaced online.
Gov. Yahaya Bello walked out of Northern APC Governors meeting angry after agreement wasn't reach for a consensus Candidate. #APCPresidentialPrimaries pic.twitter.com/qIiWPiwXTA
— Abubakar Hamma Galafi (@Galafi_Hamma) June 6, 2022
In the video, Governor Bello could be heard saying, “I’m going to address the press,” indicating he might have been unhappy with the resolution of the Northern governors to endorse power shift to the South.
The APC National Convention where the 2023 presidential candidate will be elected is scheduled for June 6 – 8.
Nothing had yet started as of 5:30 pm Monday, and there have been debates about whether the party should adopt a consensus candidate or allow all cleared 13 aspirants to contest evenly for the delegates’ votes.
