Six presidential aspirants from the South-east have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to name one of them as his preferred presidential candidate ahead of voting at the ongoing national convention of the party in Abuja.
The aspirants who made the call in a letter to the president, dated June 6, are: Ikeobasi Mokelu, Ogbonnaya Onu, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Dave Umahi, Rochas Okorocha and the only woman among them, Uju. Ahanenye.
The aspirants commended Mr Buhari for approving the position of the 14 northern governors of the party that the presidential candidate of the party should be picked from the southern part of the country.
“Your Excellency, we most humbly request that this position of our brothers from the North be deepened and made even more wholesome by further zoning this position to the South-East.
“We are all aware that no President can emerge without the support of various geopolitical zones and without the express collaboration of our brothers and sisters from other zones of Nigeria.
“With our Convention at hand, your kind directive for the deepening of unity in diversity, championed by our founding fathers solely on the basis of strengthening national unity and cohesion and for rousing victory at the 2023 elections, are stated objectives in your speeches to the Progressive governors forum, the APC aspirants dinner and the meeting of APC stakeholders.
“Furthermore, we are humbly requesting that you consider and pick your chosen candidate from the South-East aspirants in line with your stated objectives of handing over to trusted party loyalists.”
The party’s governors, after a meeting with the party’s National Working Committee, had on Tuesday further advised the party to prune the number of the aspirants to five, with only the Ebonyi State governor, Mr Umahi, being from the South-east among them.
Earlier, the screening committee of the party led by a former national chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, had on Thursday advised 10 of the 23 aspirants that appeared before it to step down for the others.
The delegates to the convention are scheduled to begin voting to elect the presidential candidate at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
Read below is the full text of the letter the aspirants wrote to the president:
6″ June 2022
President Muhhammadu Buhari, GCFR President and Commander in Chief Federal Republic of Nigeria
Aso Vila, Abuja, Nigena
Your Excellency,
We the undersigned, who are aspirants to the office of President on the platform of our party the APC, write to commend your fatherly leadership of our country and our party.ⓘ
2 We also commend your unequivocal approval of the position of the 14 Progressive governors from Northern Nigeria, to ensure that your successor is elected from the southern part of Nigeria. We also commend the governors for this patriotic and unifying stand. United we stand – Our unity in diversity has been the rallying point of all patriots.
3. Your Excellency, we most humbly request that this position of our brothers from the North be deepened and made even more wholesome by further zoning this position to the South-East.
4. We are all aware that no President can emerge without the support of various geopolitical zones and without the express collaboration of our brothers and sisters from other zones of Nigeria.
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5. With our Convention at hand, your kind directive for the deepening of unity in diversity, championed by our founding fathers solely on the basis of strengthening national unity and cohesion and for rousing victory at the 2023 elections, are stated objectives in your speeches to the Progressive governors forum, the APC aspirants dinner and the meeting of APC stakeholders.
6. Furthermore, we are humbly requesting that you consider and pick your chosen candidate from the South-East aspirants in line with your stated objectives of handing over to trusted party loyalists.
7. We humbly seek your Excellency’s prompt and kind intervention to enable the party delegates assume proper guidance.
8. Please accept as always, our continuing loyalty and assurances of our esteem regards and obedience to whichever candidate your Excellency deems fit and appropriate to adopt as the candidate of the party.
Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu
Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba
H.E. Dave Umahi
Senator Rochas Okorocha
Bar. Mrs. Uju. Ken Ahanenye
Credit: Premium Times