There are reports that a doctored delegates list may be used for the election of the Presidential Flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 General Elections on Tuesday.
Some members of the NWC of the party have accused the APC Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, of doctoring the delegates list to favour a Presidential Aspirant and President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan.
The members, who spoke in confidence on Monday night, stated that the APC Chairman, along with some unnamed principal officers of the Senate had perfected the doctoring of the delegate list last night at the APC Secretariat.
One of the sources said: “A new delegates list for the convention and election of the Presidential Candidate of the party was being worked on last night by the APC Chairman and some principal officers of the Senate.
“Already, there is confusion as to which list to use going by a recent court pronouncement. Concerted efforts were made yesterday to come up with a new list that will favour the Senate President whom the APC Chairman had announced as the consensus candidate for the party.”
Prior to the doctored list, about 2,325 ad-hoc delegates are expected at the APC Convention to elect the party’s flag-bearer for the 2023 Presidential Election.
Of this figure, the North was projected to have 1,257 delegates and South 1,068 delegates.
The ad-hoc delegates were to be drawn three apiece from the nation’s 774 local government areas and six area councils of the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The APC Chairman had on Friday caused chaos among party members with his announcement of Lawan as consensus candidate and the president’s choice as flag-bearer of the party.
Adamu’s announcement of Lawan as Buhari’s choice was however rejected by other members of the NWC and the Northern Governors.
The Northern Governors insisted that the APC Presidential Candidate should go to the South, while calling on all Northern aspirants to step down.
President Muhammed Buhari had also denounced imposition of the APC Presidential Candidate, noting that he had not anointed any aspirant.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, President Buhari said: “I have no preferred candidate, and have anointed no one, and I am determined to ensure that there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
The President said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC governors to feel the same way.
“You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain. We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The Party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody”, he said.
On his part, chairman of the APC Northern Governors Simon Lalong of Plateau State, told State House Correspondents on Monday that the President clarified that he had no consensus candidate.
“We sat down in the last few days and took a decision and gave an advisory. While we were on our way to advise the President, part of our discussions leaked out. Mr. President, being a democrat, insisted on listening to us. So, he granted us the opportunity today. Our meeting today is to reaffirm our position. We apologised to him that the statement (backing power shift to the South) was made by all of us.
“Mr. President was happy with our decision. Mr. President believes in a democratic process; and that every candidate must emerge through a transparent process. The emphasis Mr. President made was that for now, there is no anointed candidate, and therefore directed that the Progressive Governors Forum should meet with the National Working Committee of the party to agree”, he said.