Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the South-West geo-political zone will meet with presidential aspirants from the region on Friday 6th May 2022 in Lagos.
The meeting is being convened by Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State and pioneer chairman of the APC, Chief Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State and other party stakeholders.
APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State have all declared interest to contest for the presidency under the platform of the APC have all been invited to the meeting which will take place at the Lagos State Government House in Marina according to sources with details of the proposed meeting.
It was gathered that the leaders from the South-West, especially traditional rulers, politicians within and outside the APC, and other thought leaders from the academics and civil society groups have been worried stiff about what is being described as a ‘crowded field of aspirants’ from the South-West APC.
A source noted that Chief Akande, who is well respected across political divides in the region, and other conveners of the meeting, want to see that the list of aspirants from the South-West region is pruned down so that the region does not lose out on the presidential ticket of APC.
“The South-West is the biggest investor in APC. The political marriage between the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Changes (CPC) gave birth to APC. ACN came to the merger with 6 governors against 1 governor from the CPC. The South-West sacrificed most for APC. It is only natural that the region should produce the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari from the North-West.
“The leaders are worried that if the South-West does not get its acts together, we may lose the APC presidential ticket to another region.”