President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the aspirants for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress to select a consensus candidate among themselves before the party’s primaries.
President Buhari gave the directive at a meeting he held with the aspirants on Saturday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Contrary to his earlier position that the leadership of the APC and governors elected on the platform of the party should allow him pick his own successor, Buhari did not name anyone as his favourite at the meeting scheduled for 9pm.
The meeting, which was attended by the 23 presidential aspirants on the platform of the party, ended quite early.
But as the meeting was in progress, words filtered in that Northern Governors and Leaders had declared their support for a Southern presidency in 2023.
The position of the Northern Governors and Leaders was contained in a statement.
They argued that after eight years of Buhari’s presidency, it should naturally be the turn of the South.
It was also revealed that the Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, had stepped down from the race.
So also did a former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmad Yerima, disclosed his decision to also step down.
Both withdrawals from the race further confirmed the Northern position.