The reasons why former Minister of State for Education Emeka Nwajiuba was conspicuously absent from the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary have emerged.
Nwajiuba was nowhere to be found when the party’s 22 other aspirants delivered their manifestos to delegates who had gathered in Eagle Square, Abuja, overnight.
Nigerians were taken aback by the former minister’s absence because he was one of the first ministers to resign from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered all public office holders running for the presidency to resign.
In a statement issued by his brother, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, the ex-family minister’s stated that he entered the presidential race believing that the ticket would be zoned to the South-East.
He explained that his brother stayed away from the exercise because the process could be monetized.
The statement read: “Many friends are calling to find out why my brother, Dr. Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba did not come out to address the APC convention.
“Simple: The understanding from the highest levels prior to his involvement, and considering his role in the founding of the APC, was that of consensus as was with the National Chairmanship a few months ago.
“With that understanding, the Presidential ticket was to come to the South, and the southeast.
“This has been the hope till the end of the negotiations. He, not wanting to be part of the Dollar and Naira bazaar, is convinced that what Nigeria needs now is no more of the same thing that has kept Nigeria at the low level it has been.
“Our challenges as a country cannot be addressed at the same energy level by which they were created.”
