Eleven northern governors of APC have urged President Buhari to ensure that presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress comes from the South.
They made thus known in a statement they personally signed
The governors who signed the statement include Inuwa Yahaya, Gombe; Bello Masari, Katsina; Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi; Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano; Bello Matawalle, Zamfara; Babagana Zulum, Borno; Sani Bello, Niger; Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa; and Simon Lalong, Plateau.
The statement reads, "We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC's presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states.
The governors appealed to all aspirants who are from the North to withdraw from the race.
"We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries…"
Sequel to this, the Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, withdrew from the presidential race, according to a statement from the governors on Saturday night.
The announcement comes as President Muhammadu Buhari met 13 aspirants cleared to contest the party’s primaries on June 6-8 in Abuja.
In the meeting, Buhari asked the aspirants to consult, and come up with a consensus candidate, who is “formidable, appealing to the electorate.”
“I wish to remind you that our choice of flag bearer must be formidable, appealing to the electorate across the board and should command such ability to unify the country and capacity to address our critical challenges.”
Buhari had met with the APC governors on Tuesday ahead of the party’s convention.
During the meeting held at State House, Abuja, Buhari had told the governors that decisions that would enable the party to retain power at the centre should be taken.
The aspirants for the presidential ticket of the APC include former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and former ministers Rotimi Amaechi, Ogbonnaya Onu, Godswill Akpabio, and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.
Other are serving governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Ben Ayade (Cross River) and Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa).
Others include former Senate President Ken Nnamani, former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, and serving senators Ibikunle Amosun, Ajayi Boroffice, and Rochas Okorocha.