“The decision that Senate President is the consensus candidate was never taken by the NWC. It was just an information given by the chairman to the APC NWC,” said Argungu.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The game of musical chairs in the All Progressives Congress (APC) continued late on Monday as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling party backed Northern Governors of the party on power shift to the South.
Northern Governors on Monday insisted on power shift after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
This was despite the announcement by the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, was the preferred aspirant of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Adamu made the announcement at the NWC meeting of the party in Abuja.
But APC Organisjng Secretary, Suleiman Argungu, said the purported choice of Lawan was simply Adamu’s opinion.
He said the NWC supports the position of Northern APC governors on power shift to the South.
He said the choice of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as consensus aspirant is not the position of the NWC but just an opinion of the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu.
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Speaking to reporters after the NWC meeting, Argungu said: “Like you are all aware, just recently, the northern governors met and agreed that the leadership of this country under the All Progressives Congress should go to the South. And equally the Southern governors affirmed that. So, we as members of NWC, we are also with the governors on what they have said.
“Some minutes ago, some governors from the North have also gone to see the president and they have briefed the press that they are still on what they said with regards to power shift to the South.”
Asked if he was categorically rejecting what the national chairman said about Senate President being the consensus candidate,, Argungu said: “I just told you that it was just information that he gave us but it was not an issue that had to be debated on the floor of the NWC. It is an information and all of us are entitled to our opinion, we are all democrats.
“The decision that Senate President is the consensus candidate was never taken by the NWC. It was just an information given by the chairman to the APC NWC.”