The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied reports that it has endorsed Senate President Ahmad Lawan as its consensus candidate for the 2023 election.
This was stated by Alhaji Sulaiman Arugugun, APC National Organising Secretary, after a NWC meeting in Abuja on Monday.
He acknowledged that Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman, briefed the committee on the issue, but said it was not debated at the meeting.
“You can see that we are all just coming out of the NWC meeting and we were fully briefed by our national chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.
“And he did briefed us that Sen. Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate is our concensus candidate for the APC national convention.
“That is the information he gave us, but it not an issue that was delibrated on the floors of the NWC.
“It was just an information he gave us and all of us are entitled to our opinions as democrats,” Argungu said.
The APC National Organising Secretary went on to say that the decision was not made by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), but rather by an individual decision that was never approved by the committee.
Arugugun stated that the APC NWC agreed with the 11 Northern governors’ resolution on Saturday that the presidency must be transferred to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure ends in 2023.
The 11 governors of the North announced in a statement their support for a power shift to the South at the end of Buhari’s tenure.
While urging APC presidential aspirants from the region to withdraw from the 2023 presidential race, the governors stated that “the decision to support power shift to the South is in the best interests of the country.”
The Northern APC governors also praised their Jigawa counterpart, Gov. Abubakar Badaru, for withdrawing from the race ahead of the presidential primaries, which are set to take place from June 6 to June 8.
Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Gov. Sani Bello of Niger, Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, and Gov. Umara Zulum of Borno signed the communique at the end of the meeting.
Others included Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu and former Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Gombe State Governor Muhammad Yahaya, and Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle.
Buhari approved a power shift to the South in the 2023 election during a meeting with APC presidential candidates on Saturday.
