Ahmed Yerima presidential aspirant and former Governor of Zamfara State has stated that “there is no ‘gentleman agreement’ that allows Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to lay claim to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for 2023.
He insisted that the APC never entered into any agreement with Tinubu to become the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yerima noted that the agreement (if any) that the former Lagos State Governor might have had with any person(s) or group ahead of the 2015 presidential election is not binding on the party because, in his view, an agreement between persons is different from an agreement with the party.
The former Zamfara Governor stated that no such agreement exists in the APC so cannot be binding on the party.
Yerima gave his opinion on Friday night during Trust Tv’s political programme, Daily Politics.
“There is no ‘gentleman agreement’. At that time, who was the chairman of the party? Initially, we had Chief Bisi Akande and later, we had John Oyegun and today we have Senator Abdullahi Adamu, we had [Mai Mala] Buni along the process and so on.
“So, was it Chief Bisi Akande that sat down with some people? Any decision taken outside of the structure of the party is not recognised. The party has a National Working Committee, the party also has what we call NEC and there is the overall decision-making body which is the Convention,” Yerima said.
Continuing, he said such an agreement can only be taken by the national working committee of the party, the NEC or by the Convention, adding that no record of such exists.
“Any decision that is not taken within the structure of the party is not a decision. You can not have an understanding with a person and say ‘this is what will happen. If a party wants to make a decision, it is either taken by the national working committee, the NEC or it is taken by the Convention.
“If a decision is taken by the Convention, it can not be changed. But decisions can be reviewed based on any circumstances. Even if there was that understanding, the circumstances of today may be different from what it was when that understanding was reached but I’m not aware of any understanding,” Yerima argued.
The APC has fixed its special convention which will produce the party’s 2023 presidential candidate for June 6, 2022 in Abuja.
On Friday evening, ahead of the election, the John Odigie-Oyegun led Presidential Screening Committee came up with a safe list of 13 aspirants, dropping 10 to of the 23 hopefuls.
Read also:
List of 13 Aspirants Shortlisted to Contest APC Primary Election
Yerima Addresses Issue of ‘Gentleman Agreement’ Between Buhari and Tinubu on 2023 Presidency