Saturday 26th March 2022

Following persuasions and negotiations by governors and other leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the six other aspirants for the office of the national chairman have agreed to step down for Abdullahi Adamu, President Muhammadu Buhari’s choice for the job.

The meetings were held till the early hours of Saturday, this newspaper learnt with the aspirants eventually agreeing to support Mr Adamu. However, as of 8 a.m. on Saturday, a formal announcement of the agreement has yet to be made and some of the delegates who support other aspirants apart from Mr Adamu say they are unaware their candidates have stepped down.

Apart from Mr Adamu, the other six aspirants for the position of national chairman are ex-Nasarawa governor Tanko Al-Makura, ex-Benue governor George Akume, ex-Zamfara governor Abdul’aziz Yari, Kwara politician Saliu Mustapha, Nasarawa senator Sani Musa, and Muhammed Etsu.

Before now, the aspirants were initially adamant about stepping down, insisting on taking part in the election at Eagle Square, Abuja.

At their earlier meeting held Friday evening, the other six aspirants had insisted on taking part in the election. However, that changed with the late-night meetings held.

President Buhari had on Wednesday met with seven of the aspirants for the party’s top job and informed them of his decision to support Mr Adamu, a serving senator and former governor of Nasarawa State.

In his push for consensus candidates ahead of the convention, Mr Buhari ordered APC governors to refund money to any of the aspirants willing to step down for consensus candidates.

Each of the chairmanship aspirants paid N20 million for the expression of interest and nomination forms.