… AS AYADE, SYLVA, JOIN RACE
Ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms for the All Progressives Congress, the Senate President Ahmed Lawan, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, on Monday, joined the presidental race.
The Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade and Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, all joined the long list of presidential aspirants and obtained their nomination and expression of interest forms in Abuja.
A member of the National Caucus of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Sam Nkire, who led the Committee of 15 friends of the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, to pick form for the Senate President, said, he bought form for the Senate President at his request.
Nkire led the Committee of 15 friends of Lawan, who are all Senators to procure the All Progressives Congress, Expression of interest and nomination forms at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
According to him, Lawan has the qualities to lead the country adding that the President of the Senate, joined the crowd of the 2023 Presidential aspirants under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“Nigeria needs a Nigerian President and not one given to ethnic proclivities. We are not here on our own, we have his (Lawan) backing. Even though friends and brothers contributed to purchase this form for him but he has given us the go ahead
“We want the current Senate President to be the President of Nigeria for many reasons. National stability is one.
“And the President that we are bringing for the Nigerian people is a Nigerian President, not an Igbo President, not a Fulani President, not a Yoruba President, but a Nigerian President who we have watched and seen that there would be no other candidate that will be so level-headed and someone who has the feeling of the poor Nigerians.” Nkire stated.
Lawan is the 27 aspirants that have collected the APC’s expression of interest and nomination forms.
Recall that the APC had till Tuesday to end the sale of forms with their primary election slated for May 30.
He said should APC abandoned zoning, that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), should be blamed for it, saying the PDP’s failure to cede its presidential ticket to the South, means that APC will loose the election, which he described as amounting to political suicide for the APC to take a different approach
“Let me tell you, every politician is in politics to win. It is PDP that is driving us to do this. We have said so, but we don’t want PDP to take the government from us. If we give the position to a Southerner and PDP gives to a Northerner, APC will go into the wilderness and we are not ready to go into the wilderness.” He explained.