25 Presidential Aspirants Filled, Submitted Forms, Says APC

The All Progressives Congress has said it sold 28 Nomination and Declaration of Interest forms for the presidential election, with 25 of them filled and returned to the party.

The APC listed those who failed to submit their forms as Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, made this known on Wednesday while featuring on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television.

When asked to confirm those who have withdrawn from the race, Morka said, “I can exhaustively provide you that information for the fact that some of those who you said have reneged, they have done so in the public space but have yet to officially communicate that to the party. And those things don’t necessarily happen at the same.

“Sometimes, these things will go out to the media and we all read it and gain the understanding that those individuals may be pulling back, whereas as far as the party is concerned, especially for those who have made their submissions – of their forms, we yet don’t have information confirming or notifying us of their decisions.

“What I have at this time, we have 28 altogether who purchased forms and at the last count, we had about 25 who made submissions of those forms. So, three of them did not. They are Senator Chris Ngige; Godwin Emefiele and Timipre Sylva.”

Speaking on the purchase of forms for and on behalf of aspirants, especially by support groups, Morka stated that those who have the resources can purchase forms for their presidential nominees.

He also stated that it is at the point of submission of the forms that the actual verification begins.