No Automatic ticket for Buhari for 2019

Fri, Oct 13, 2017 | By publisher


Political Briefs

 

BISI Akande, a former governor of Osun State and former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari would not get automatic ticket to contest the 2019 presidential poll.

Akande said this in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Thursday, October 12, while briefing newsmen after a meeting of the leadership of the APC in the South West, held at the Executive Chamber of Oyo State Governor’s Office.

Reacting to a question on whether the South West would endorse Buhari for 2019 general elections, he said if the president indicates interest to re-contest in 2019, he would have to slug it out with other presidential aspirants in the APC for the party’s ticket for the poll.

“He has not told us. Anybody in our party is free to become the president of Nigeria. As soon as they indicate interests, we will set a process through which a candidate will be selected. If he (Buhari) is lucky to have the ticket, then we will have no other thing to do than to present him as our candidate,” Akande said.

The former Osun State governor also dropped a bombshell that the issue of restructuring of Nigeria being agitated for by many people and groups in the country is not in APC’s constitution. He said the party only stands for devolution of functions of the federal government to the state and local governments.

Akande said: “Restructuring is not our language. Go and ask those who are advocating restructuring to define it. What I told you just now is devolution of functions from the centre to the peripheral governments – the states and the local governments.

“Restructuring is a language of other bodies and groups of people. You can always direct your questions to them on what they mean by restructuring, whether restructuring in economy or in politics or whatever, go and ask the advocates what they mean by restructuring; that is not in the APC’s manifesto or constitution.

On the significance of the crucial meeting, he said: “We leaders of APC in South West, with our leaders in government, both at the state and national levels, met to review what we decided in our meeting of January, and to see whether the efforts of our leaders in government have been fruitful. We are happy that we have had a very happy meeting and the resolutions are that we are on course. We are happy that our governors and ministers are performing satisfactorily.”

Akande said the party would work assiduously to win the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti State from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

 

 

– Oct 12, 2017 @ 14:53 GMT /

 

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