The former governors of Ogun and Osun states, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Bisi Akande, have convened a meeting of the South-West presidential aspirants ahead of the All Progressives Congress primary.
The PUNCH gathered that the meeting was called for the South-West to present a united front going into the presidential primary as there were now many aspirants from the region.
The meeting, scheduled for Friday, May 6, comes after the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, warned the APC against zoning the 2023 presidential slot to the northern part of the country, saying that would lead to a crisis.
The PUNCH had reported that Akeredolu in a statement titled, ‘Our party, APC, must tread the path of equity’, said it was the turn of the southern region to produce the next president.
It was gathered that the meeting was convened in order for the APC stakeholders to reduce the number of presidential aspirants so that the South West would have a better chance of getting the APC ticket.
The PUNCH also gathered that some of the attendees expected at the meeting, which would hold at the Lagos House in Marina, Lagos, include National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Deputy Senate Leader, Prof Ajayi Boroffice, South-West governors in the APC and other stakeholders are among those expected to be at the meeting.
The APC South-West aspirants who have declared interest include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (Ogun), former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole (Ogun), Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu (Lagos), and the Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).
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