The highlight of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) special convention to elect its presidential candidate for the 2023 elections so far is the galore of withdrawals from the race by some of the aspirants.
When the event commenced Tuesday afternoon, there were 23 aspirants in the race. But after pronouncements by each of the aspirants, only 14 of them remained in the battle for the ticket to fly the party’s flag in the 2023 general election.
Seven of the aspirants stepped down for the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, and pledged their support for him.
One aspirant, however, stepped down for the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
Ken Nnamani, a former President of the Senate, had earlier withdrawn from the race before the commencement of the convention. But unlike other candidates who declared their support for either Mr Tinubu or Mr Osinbajo, Mr Nnamani did not announce his support for any of the remaining aspirants.
He cited as reasons for his decision the party’s alleged lack of “sincerity on zoning arrangement and the poor management of the primary election activities.”
He said the development had created uncertainty and poor preparation for his planned campaign.
Meanwhile, here are the nine aspirants who stepped down at the convention and who they declared their support for.
1. Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
2. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
presentatives, Dimeji Bankole, stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
3. Senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Ajayi Boroffice, stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
4. Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
5. Godswill Akpabio, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
6. Ibikunle Amosun, former Ogun State governor, stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
7. Uju-Kennedy Ohanenye, the only female aspirant in the race, also stepped down for Bola Tinubu.
8. The youngest male presidential aspirant, Nicholas Felix, stepped down for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
9. The former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, only withdrew from the race without declaring support for any of the remaining aspirants.
A total of 2,203 delegates drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory (FCT) were accredited to participate in the election.
