The All Progressives Congress Presidential Aspirants Screening Committee headed by the party’s former Chairman Chief John Odigie- Oyegun has turned in its report to the Chairman f the party , Abdullahi Adamu.
The Committee Chairman while submitting the report revealed, in his remarks, that 13 aspirants scaled through the exercise while 10 couldn’t make the cut.
Giving a hint into how the decision was arrived at, Oyegun disclosed that while all the aspirants met the basic constitutional qualifications which he described as “basic and simple”, other criteria were also considered.
“And on that basis, every single aspirants that presented himself qualified. Because it was basic and simple. But we are a governing party. And we are keen on continuing the process and replacing at the proper time with our president with yet another member of the party.
“So, the ability to lead, background, experience and your understanding of the Nigerian situation, your ideas as to how issues, difficulties and problems can be addressed and how the country can be moved forward became a critical consideration. It is on that basis who are you, what have you achieved, your understanding of the nation and things you can contribute to move the nation forward. It was on the basis of that we made our final shortlist”, Oyegun said.
He however did not disclose the identity of either the qualified or disqualified aspirants. “I did not list the names. I think I will leave that to you. We have a shortlist which brought the number down to 13. We could have cut it a little shorter. But we wanted a pedigree with a longer element to surface. For them to be seen whether to be noticed, who knows? We hand them over to the party. And it is for the party to decide who their preferred candidate will be.”
He advised that the issue of the part of the country,whether South or North, where the candidate comes from must not be swept under the carpet but should form a critical basis for choosing the party’s presidential candidate.
“There is this cleavage that is gradually becoming the centre stage in a national discourse. As between the north and the south and the presidency. And we just want to advise strongly that the party should please think of it in making its decision, address it and let it influence their thoughts because it has its own implications.
Oyegun reported that he was pleasantly surprised that all the aspirants but one accepted to abide by the principle of consensus as they conceded that the party decision is supreme.
According to him, the only dissenter insisted that he would only agree to consensus if it is built on him.
He also hailed the active participation of youths in the exercise.
On behalf of his team he thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to serve describing the assignment as “a sensitive assignment, a challenging assignment but very interesting assignment on which all of us have profited immensely from which the party will also profit.”
The Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, in his response, commended the Oyegun- led Screening Committee, applauded the youths for their active involvement and assured that due consideration I’ll be given to the issue of the north and south divide.
He promised that the report will be onsidered at the highest level of the party in earnest.