The Tinubu Campaign Organization has warned the All Progressives Congress against imposing a consensus candidate.
The organization was responding to the announcement on Monday of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate.
The support group listed three conditions for selecting a consensus candidate as stipulated in the Electoral Act in a statement signed by its Legal Director, Babatunde Ogala, SAN.
“The media is inundated with reports that the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has unilaterally announced the purported adoption of a certain aspirant as the APC’s consensus presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election in 2023,”
“While the National Chairman has yet to deny or clarify the alleged declaration, it is necessary to state that such a declaration is illegal.” This is because, under the Electoral Act 2022 regime, consensus, while provided for as one of the means by which a political party may produce its candidate, must specifically occur in a precise form. The relevant provisions are Sections 84(9), (10), and (11) of the Electoral Act 2022, which state as follows:
“(9) A political party that adopts a consensus candidate must obtain the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the position, indicating their voluntary withdrawal from the race and support for the consensus candidate.”
“(10) If a political party is unable to obtain the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the purpose of selecting a consensus candidate, it shall revert to the use of direct or indirect primaries for the nomination of candidates for the aforementioned elective position.” (11) A special convention or nomination congress shall be held at designated centers at the National, State, Senatorial, Federal, and State Constituencies, as the case may be, to ratify the choice of consensus candidates.” As a result, any declaration of a consensus candidate would be premature and in violation of existing legal provisions.
“We are confident that the APC, as a law-abiding entity, will not be a part of such.” We are further persuaded to urge our supporters to disregard this report in light of the overwhelming majority of APC Northern Governors who, after meeting with the President, reaffirmed their preference for a president from the southern part of Nigeria.”
“This patriotic decision is widely accepted by all Nigerians as a demonstration of profound understanding of our nation’s nuanced fault lines.” In these circumstances, the National Chairman’s unilateral declaration of a consensus presidential candidate for the party will not only violate the law, but will also put the party at odds with its Governors, who are critical stakeholders in the party.”
