VANTAGE NEWS reports that some aspirants seeking various positions in today’s national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s call for the party to have consensus candidates at the convention scheduled to hold today in Abuja.
Recall that Buhari had summoned the governors of the party on Wednesday where he called for consensus candidates to emerge. He had also revealed his support for the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the next chairman of the party.
VANTAGE NEWS learnt that various aspirants were still meeting and campaigning late on Friday, a few hours before the convention.
Chairmanship aspirant, Saliu Mustapha, had in a statement released by the Director-General of his campaign organization on Friday said he was still in the race.
“Our campaign organisation has received several calls from multitudes of party stakeholders, friends and associates regarding the upcoming convention of our party and the decision of Saliu Mustapha as an aspirant, especially in relation to the unravelling issue of a possible consensus arrangement,” the statement read partly.
“Indeed, we recognise consensus as one of APC’s acceptable leadership selection methods, which is completely legal and constitutional. However, we are convinced that for consensus to abide, it must be all-inclusive and devoid of any vestige of imposition.
“This is why Mallam Saliu Mustapha, together with all the other aspirants, would continue to engage to review the options before them and agree on a common and mutually beneficial decision. Until this is done, nothing has been decided yet.”
VANTAGE NEWS reports that the unity list expected to be presented before the convention was yet to be decided upon as some governors were not in agreement with some of the choices.
However, the party leadership maintained its stand that consensus would be the only option at the convention.
In a press conference held on Friday, the Chairman of the National Convention Media and Publicity Sub-committee, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, told reporters that the unity list would be out soon.
Sule “From what we have from the regions, the unity list will be ready today (Friday). It will be submitted. If you are talking of consensus, you must have a unity list, because that’s the whole essence of consensus.
“If you’re having consensus, you would have people who have agreed, aspirants who have agreed, stakeholders who have agreed, and the constituency that has agreed, and in that case, that name automatically will be adopted. That’s just the meaning of the unity list.”
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