Oyegun’s Screening Committee Recommends Southern Candidate For President
Chairman of the screening committee of the Presidential aspirants in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun has put emphasis on the issue of the next President coming from the Southern part of the country.
Chief Oyegun, who submitted the report of the presidential screening committee to the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu today, June 3, also expressed confidence in the youth among the aspirants over their wonderful performance, saying: “And it is also an opportunity to showcase the kind of people that exist within the party with their youthfulness and kind of experience. Let the world know that this is a party that cares for the young and this is a party that when we say the young can aspire to lead, we mean it. And this has been showcased in the report that we have written.”
The Committee said that there is cleavage that is gradually becoming the centre stage in national discourse between the north and the south and the presidency, and that “we just want to advise strongly that the party should please think of it in making its decision, address it, and let it influence their thoughts because it has its implications.”
The full statement reads: “It is our pleasure to be here with you today to present our report. I will be very brief.
“Having been a tenant in this building before, Mr National Chairman, let me say that I came in and I thought I was on the wrong premises. I want to say that you have performed something short of a miracle in this building. And I can tread properly now that I am in the secretariat of the governing party.
“I thank you for the assignment that you gave us and our members. I know how short the time has been. I know the environment in which you took over. So, we were quite happy to also do as much as we could to make the work of the party lighter.
“We had the privilege of being inaugurated by you, precisely on the 30th of May, and we immediately started work on that very day after a brief meeting. I will just summarise.
“First, we had 23 aspirants that we interacted with. And my first comment is that indeed, we are a very lucky party. Those were 23 that presented themselves. We had a lot of others — prominent Nigerians both within and outside the country — that had applied, but for whatever reason, could not proceed with their applications.
“The point I want to make is on the quality of the people that want to govern this country. The second point I want to make is that we were surprised at the active participation of youthful members of the party, some of whom surprised us as to what they have accomplished in life, their understanding of the situation in this country, and why they want to have the privilege of governing this country. What was important was that they so believed in the country and the party that they were able to pay the sums that some of us considered princely handsome, to participate in the process. So, I think the party ought to pat itself on the back for that.
“Our report is simple and short. We don’t want to beat the bush. There were two aspects to it.
“The basic constitutional qualifications for you to aspire to be a president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that was simple. And on that basis, every single aspirant that presented themselves qualified because it was basic and simple.
“But we are a governing party, and we are keen on continuing the process and replacing, at the proper time, our president with yet another member of the party. So, the ability to lead, background, experience, understanding of the Nigerian situation, ideas as to how issues, difficulties and problems can be addressed, and how the country can be moved forward, became critical considerations.
“It is on that basis — who are you, what have you achieved, what is your understanding of the nation and what you think you can contribute to moving the nation forward — it was based on that that we made our final shortlist. I don’t want to list the names. I’m going to leave that to you. But we have a shortlist which brought the number severely down to 13. We could have cut it a little shorter, but we wanted a pedigree of younger elements to surface, for them to be seen, for them to be noticed, and who knows? We hand them over to the party. And it is for the party to decide who their preferred candidate will be.
“And it is also an opportunity to showcase the kind of people that exist within the party with their youthfulness and kind of experience. Let the world know that this is a party that cares for the young and this is a party that when we say the young can aspire to, we mean it. And this has been showcased in the report that we have written.
“I will conclude by saying that we only threw a word of caution; that there is this cleavage that is gradually becoming the centre stage in national discourse between the north and the south and the presidency. And we just want to advise strongly that the party should please think of it in making its decision, address it, and let it influence their thoughts because it has its implications.
“Outside that, just on behalf of the wonderful colleagues you gave me to work with, I want to thank you very much. It was a sensitive assignment, a challenging assignment, but a very interesting assignment from which I’m sure all of us have profited immensely, and from which we think the party will also profit.
“Also, one part I need to emphasise. We engaged every aspirant on the issue of consensus and it is a pleasant surprise that 98 to 99 per cent agreed that the party is supreme. And that whatever the party finally decides, with proper consultation, they were likely to accept. We had only one exception who said ‘yes, I will accept consensus so long as it is built on me’. I think it is a point that needs to be emphasised. So, that gives you a lot of leeway in the days and hours ahead to trim down even more drastically. But finally, we think we should not be afraid of a contested primary if anybody insists on the contest.
“I thank you very much, Mr Chairman. It is now my honour and privilege, on behalf of the committee set up, to present to you the report.”
A front line Presidential aspirant of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed worry over what he called “gross misinterpretations in some sections of the media regarding comments he made in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.”
The new owner of the Union Bank PLC, Titan Trust Bank, has sacked the board and management of the Bank, including Chair/Non/Executive Director, Beatrice Bassey; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Emeka Okonkwo.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has said that the Commission has virtually concluded the planning processes for the 2023 general elections nine months ahead of the elections.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has warned owners of uncompleted building and estates to move fast and development for immediate occupation or face forfeiture of such structures.
Cross Rivers State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade has insisted that it is the turn of the southern part of the country to produce the next president of Nigeria.
2023: Final Integrity Test For Buhari Presidency, By Deen Adavize
As President and leader of the country’s rulings All Progressive Congress, he is undoubtedly expected to take a firmed position in the emergence of the presidential candidate of his party.
Having been praised around the world as Africa’s foremost anti-corruption crusader, his legacy is expected to linger on after his exit next year. But his successor will either make or mar this projection.
As a matter of fact, it is generally agreed that a good leader is not someone who serves his people credibly alone but also rises against any primordial sentiment to ensure he bequeaths an outstanding successor who will work even more credibly that will outweigh his success story while ensuring his predecessor’s good legacy endured.
As expected, in his recent statement to the APC Governors, President Buhari made it clear that he is very interested in the choice of the person that will emerge as the party’s flag-bearer in the forthcoming Presidential election.
In his words: “as I begin the final year of my second term as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and leader of the party, I recognized the compelling need for me to provide stronger leadership to the party under this transition process and to ensure that it happens in an orderly manner.”
The President further advised the party to adhere to the changing dynamics of the nation’s environment, and the expectations of the citizens and the global community.
Having learned from his past mistakes as leader of his ruling party, (APC) the Nigerian leader seems to have realized that continuing playing his usual role of non-interference in the party affairs will not only spell doom for his party and his legacy but also threaten the security of the entire nation.
However, despite his firm, yet vague statement about his preferred candidate in the coming party’s primary election, his role and decision a few hours from now will finally define his acclaimed integrity of being a detribalized leader, defender of the masses and real anti-corruption crusader.
While the President advised the party to adhere to the changing dynamics when choosing the party presidential candidate, he himself must stay around, and work closely with the party’s leaders to drive this process. This is not the time to just dish out directives that were barely enforced while he stays away.
Though the President has provided some useful qualities of someone the party should choose for the coming presidential election, he must as well resist any pressure from any angle that will prevent him from doing what is morally right and eternally beneficial for the entire country.
Furthermore, while President Buhari put into consideration, the capacity, experience, competence, pedigree, and exceptional track record of his preferred candidate, he must also not ignore the importance of equity and justice for every segment of the country as part of what he recently described as the current dynamics of contemporary Nigeria and the emerging global reality.
It is well known that despite his giant strides of about eight years of stewardship as Nigeria’s President, he has also received a barrage of criticisms on several fronts. While some accuse him of being despotic, others describe him as being ethnically cum religious inclined in his style of leadership, especially in the areas of appointments and others. Yet some others question his acclaimed integrity in the manner he handled various challenges facing the country. However, the outcome of this solemn challenge of choosing his successor will finally defend his integrity and, perhaps, ultimately define his legacy.
As the party is finally set to conduct its primary a few hours from now, having previously delayed it for about a week for the reason best known to them, it is the right time for the Nigerian leader to prove to Nigerians, both his supporters and his critics, and of course, to the global community that he, indeed, truly belongs to everybody, and belongs to nobody!
Adavize, a concerned Nigerian and Public affairs analyst, wrote from Okene, Kogi State. | deenadavize@gmail.com