APC’s national chairman Abdullahi Adamu has finally put to rest all speculations, from within and outside the party, about a consensus candidate the leadership wants to foist on the 28 aspirants scrambling to win the party primary.
Although he emerged through a consensus arrangement in March, Adamu said such is not possible for the presidential primary.
“The reason is that the chairmanship seat is not the same as that of the tussle for the Presidency of the country. You can’t even compare the two of them. That question does not arise,” he told the VoA Hausa Service on Wednesday
“However the party has laid down its rules and regulations for the aspirants. We would scrutinise all of them based on our guidelines to be sure we pick the right candidate for the party.”
But he emphasized that the 28 aspirants ought to know that all of them cannot emerge as the candidate of the party.
“You can’t stop a party stalwart from contesting election or aspiring for the Presidency. It is their rights and we are happy for them. There is nothing wrong for anybody aspiring for the exalted seat of the presidency. It is God that decides who gets what,” he said.
“Once God makes up his mind and say this is who He wants, that is what we are praying for. We have 28 aspirants for the presidential ticket and everybody knows that all of them cannot get the ticket.
“If it is God’s wish, they all can even be president of the country one after the other. Ours is to ensure justice in the choice of who emerges candidate of the party. That does not mean we are perfect. But we pray we do the right thing.”