Seven presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the names of five southern aspirants forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration as a consensus candidate.

The northern APC governors had in the early hours of Tuesday forwarded the names of five southern aspirants to Buhari.

The presidential aspirants earlier shortlisted by the governors were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; APC national leader, Bola Tinubu; Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi; and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

The aspirants were later reduced to three with Tinubu, Osibanjo, and Amaechi making the proposed list.

However, seven other aspirants, on Tuesday, rejected the shortlist, saying they were not consulted before the northern governors arrived at the decision.

The aggrieved aspirants made this known via a joint statement issued on Tuesday.

They are Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade; former Ministers Emeka Nwajiuba (State for Education), Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology); former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha; and business mogul, Tein Jack-Rich.

The presidential hopefuls described the move by the governors as “a joke taken to the extreme with the aim of playing with the intellect of Nigerians particularly us from the South-East.”

The aspirants stated: “In the past few hours we have been bombarded with calls and messages from our supporters and concerned Nigerians on a list of five Presidential aspirants submitted to President Buhari to choose from.

“As long as we are concerned no list has been submitted to Mr. President, the move by the Governors is considered a joke taken to the extreme with the aim of playing with the intellect of Nigerians particularly us from the South-East.

“Mr President’s directive is very simple, that all Presidential aspirants including those from the North should meet and harmonise in order to produce a single candidate.

“As it stands we have not been consulted or attended a meeting where it was agreed that such names be sent to Mr President.

“In the so-called list out of the five names only one was selected from the South-East and we are talking about fairness and justice to the South.

READ ALSO: Govs reduce shortlisted aspirants to Osinbajo, Tinubu, Amaechi

“What the Governors have done is a mere picnic in the park. These are the same Governors talking about Equity, justice and fairness yet in a clandestine manner purportedly sidelined the South East.

“In the absence of any harmonised agreement no list has been submitted to Mr. President, what they have done is just nothing but a charade which is bound to fail.

“We also have it on good authority that the majority of these Governors have been promised and also given various forms of gratifications in order to thwart the process in favour of one aspirant and such grand plot will fail woefully.

“Moreso, the party led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu remains the official organ of the party through which decisions taken by stakeholders in the party will be communicated and acted upon, in the absence of that any other move remains null and void.

“We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard such information, as we remain in the race hence no consensus agreement has been reached amongst all contestants.

“The names, according to the source, included that of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, and Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State).

“The governors after meeting with the President said they will return to the villa after meeting with the party’s National Working Committee and other stakeholders.

“They picked one from South-East, one from South-South and three from South-West geopolitical zones in line with their position that power should shift to the South,” the statement read.

The Star