Former Lagos State governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to clinch the party’s presidential ticket.
Indications emerged last night that Tinubu is the man to beat when seven other aspirants, Ibikunle Amosun, Kayode Fayemi, Abubakar Badaru, Godswill Akpabio, Dimeji Bankole and two others stepped down for him.
It became obvious that the presidential primary of the governing party would be an open contest when most of the aspirants stood their ground that they were not stepping down anybody.
This followed reports that the APC governors had narrowed the race to three aspirants, namely Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; national leader of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and immediate past minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
This was after it was reported that the APC governors had shortlisted and submitted the names of five aspirants to the president.
The five names earlier said to have been shortlisted by the APC governors before it was whittle down to three include Vice President Osinbajo; Tinubu, Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi; former minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.
Apparently dissatisfied by the development, seven presidential aspirants the rejected the names of five presidential aspirants said to have been sent to President Muhammadu Buhari to choose a consensus candidate from among them.
In a statement issued in the early hours of Today immediately after a brief meeting in Abuja, the APC disgruntled presidential aspirants dissociated themselves from the said list.
They are Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade; former minister for State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former minister for science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; former governor of Imo State, Sen Rochas Okorocha and business mogul, Tein Jack-Rich. (Leadership)
