APC Convention: Forcing Lawan, Others To Step Down Will Nullify Process, Fani-Kayode Warns Northern Govs
A member of the Ahmad Lawan Central Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has cautioned northern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against ‘forcing’ Lawan to withdraw from today’s presidential primary of the party.
According to Fani-Kayode, excluding the Senate President from the ballot will render the primary election a nullity as they would have contradicted provisions in section 84 of the Electoral Act.
Advertisement
The former aviation minister issued the warning against the backdrop of the northern APC governors’ insistence that the country’s next president should come from the southern region.
The governors had earlier written to President Muhammadu Buhari to make their position known, while calling on all northern aspirants to withdraw from the race on the grounds that the North has held power since 2015.
On Monday, the governors and members of the APC National Working Committee also kicked against the announcement of Lawan as the consensus presidential candidate by the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
To further deal a blow to Adamu’s plot to foist Lawan on the party, the governors and NWC members on Tuesday shortlisted five aspirants from the southern region as their recommended aspirants for the presidential ticket.
Advertisement
The shortlisted aspirants are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu; a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi and Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi.
But tweeting hours to the APC presidential primary, Fani-Kayode said it is not the prerogative of the northern governors to determine where the ticket is zoned to.
“It is NOT for the Northern Governors to singlehandedly ZONE or DETERMINE the Presidential candidate of our party. It is for the President, the Nat. Chairman, the NWC & the delegates to decide. A challenge to the authority of the Chairman & supremacy of the party is unacceptable.
“If you (APC governors) try to force anyone to step down by excluding them from the ballot at the Convention know that you are violating section 84 of the Electoral Act and that aspirant will go to court and turn the whole proceeding into a nullity.
“The Northern Governors that are saying they are zoning the ticket and reducing the aspirants to 3 ought to be mindful of this. They do not have that power and neither ought they try to determine who our candidate ought to be. Let everyone run and let there be a level playing field,” he wrote.
Advertisement
