President Muhammadu Buhari is said to have instructed governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to limit presidential aspirants to three from the initial five submitted to the president.
According to reports, President Buhari is expected to choose a consensus candidate from the list of names submitted to him.
Recall that the APC governors had previously submitted to the President the names of five presidential candidates ahead of the party’s presidential primary scheduled for today(Tuesday).
The Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, reportedly submitted the five names to President Buhari in the early hours of Tuesday.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, and Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, are among the names on the list.
According to APC stalwart Imran Muhammad, the President instructed the governors to reduce the number of aspirants from five to two or three.
The President’s reason for the reduction, Muhammad said in a tweet on Tuesday morning, was that the contest would be a straight fight between three candidates.
The APC governors are scheduled to meet again this morning to wrap up their consultations, reduce the names to three, and issue a statement to that effect, according to the APC member.
The ruling party hopes to choose a presidential candidate who can compete with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, among others.
