Northern governors elected under the platform of the ruling APC have rejected the adoption of Senate President Ahmad Lawan as a consensus candidate of the party.
APC national chairman Abdullahi Adamu had announced Mr Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate at a meeting of National Working Committee (NWC) on Monday in Abuja.
The governors revealed this Monday afternoon after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House Abuja.
The Northern governors insisted that power should rotate to the Southern part of the country in 2023.
Briefing State House journalists on Monday, the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, said the 13 of them apologised to the president for receiving the information about their position after it was leaked.
Mr Lalong said they took the decision in the interest of justice and peace in the country.
He said they would hold another meeting by 5pm today among themselves, and the president agreed with their position and maintained that the presidential candidate must emerge through a transparent process.
The governor said President Buhari told them he did not have an anointed candidate for now and directed them to meet the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to agree on the succession plan.
On his part, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu said the stance of the northern PDP governors that power should shift to the south was for fairness.
Mr Bagudu said, “We looked at the totality of the issues in our country and we believe APC with a President that has delivered democratic dividends across the breadth of the country and 22 Governors, has everything going for it.
“What is the political brinkmanship that we need to bring so that every component of Nigeria will feel important. It is to allow opportunity for other parts of the country. And this is a step that will bring more peace and resonate with every part of Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai, said out of the 14 governors of APC states in Northern Nigeria, only one, that of Kogi State, who is also an aspirant, disagreed with their position of zoning the presidency to the south.
