APC Assures Fairness to Aspirants If Consensus Fails

Farouk Aliyu, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship and National Assembly Screening Committee, has said that the party will adhere to the democratic process despite adopting a consensus candidate in its ongoing primaries, news.ng reports.

Aliyu, who made this known during an interview on Arise Television on Monday morning, said that the endorsement of preferred candidates by governors should not be taken as a disqualification for other aspirants who have indicated their interest.

You may recall that the governors of Lagos State and Nasarawa State have publicly endorsed candidates of their choice.

This, according to the screening committee chairman, does not mean that other candidates have been schemed out of the entire process.

He said, “The consensus candidates does not preclude anybody who does not agree. Now, let’s talk about Nasarawa State, where the governor, and in other states, the governor has his preferred candidate. That does not mean other candidates will not go for election.

“Governor is just one person, and then some stakeholders that have agreed that Mr A is our preferred candidate. Now, if in the wisdom of other contestants, they don’t agree with that, certainly, a direct promise will be, you know, implemented. So, nobody is going to be excluded, that I assure you, not only in Lagos, or in Nasarawa, in Gombe, in so many states where the governors have come forward, their preferred candidates, governors and some stakeholders.”

To ensure fairness and inclusiveness, Aliyu noted that the party would resort to direct primaries in situations where aspirants reject consensus.

“If in the wisdom of other contestants, they don’t agree with that, certainly direct primaries will be implemented. So, nobody is going to be excluded, that I assure you—not only in Lagos, or in Nasarawa, in Gombe, in so many states where the governors have come forward with their preferred candidates,” Aliyu stated.

“Even in Lagos, if Jandor and Co. don’t agree with this consensus candidate, the field will be open for them to try their luck,” he added.

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