Majority of aspirants on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) accepted consensus mode of primary which President Muhammadu Buhari has opted for except Bola Tinubu, the ruling party’s screening committee has said.
Mr Tinubu who expressed his displeasure at the consensus alternative he described as undemocratic was not named by the screening committee as opposing the mode of primary but he has continued to publicly asserts that he will not accept the option except he is favoured by it.
Chairman of the committee, John Odigie-Oyegun, while submitting the report of aspirants screened, where 10 were disqualified while 13 ‘youthful’ others scaled through, said the lone opposer agreed to accept the option only if he will be the beneficiary.
“We engaged every aspirant on the issue of consensus and it was a pleasant surprise that 99 per cent agreed that the party is supreme and whatever the party finally decides, with proper consultation, they were likely to accept,” Mr Odigie-Oyegun said at the party’s secretariat in Abuja. “There is only one person that said I will accept consensus as long as it is based on me.
“So, I think it is a point I need to emphasize on it. That gives you a way in the hours ahead to trim down even more drastically. But finally, we think we should not be afraid of the contested primary if anybody insists on the contest,” the committee chairman added.
Jonathan not screened
He also confirmed that former president Goodluck Jonathan who is being called on to return to office on the platform of the ruling party, despite belonging to the opposition, was screened.
“No, no, I can confirm we did not screen him,” the former national chairman of the APC responded when the question was thrown to him by journalists.
