The National Convention Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has said that about 8,000 delegates will attend the national convention of the party slated for the Teslim Balogum Stadium, Lagos, to elect the party’s presidential candidate.
The Chairman of the committee and former governor of Ekiti state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said at a news conference that although some of the aspirants expressed concern about traveling such a long distance for the convention, the committee was able to convince them on why they chose Lagos for the event.
Fayemi said he would have been surprised if the aspirants had not raise such concern, pointing out that what the party was going for an election and not an endorsement of candidate.
Some of the aspirants had written to the National Chairman of the party, kicking against the choice of Lagos for the convention, raising issues of distance and other logistics and suggested that the event should be moved to Abuja.
Fayemi said that “This is a very democratic party that is honest and believe in a process because the process is even more important than the product.
“For us, it is not who emerges at the end of the day. They are all competent, they all have agenda and they all will implement the manifesto of our party. It is how we get there.
“We have not taken any decision without the input of all the presidential aspirants. l can assure you of that. We did not arrive at Lagos accidentally.
“We arrived at Lagos with the full input of all our presidential aspirants. Yes, concerns were raised about the distance, for example for somebody coming from Yobe or Maiduguri as delegate.
“Those are practical issues and we would have been surprised if the aspirants didn’t raise such issues. We held a meeting with all the aspirants and we explained to them why we had to settle for Lagos.
“By the time we explained to them the processes that we have put in place, they were happy and they have given us a full cooperation that Lagos is acceptable to them.”
He added that “It is my pleasure and delight to be here and address you and update you on the work we have been doing since our inauguration as the National Convention Committee. We have been very busy and if you noticed, we have also been meeting with the aspirants.
“This is a very unique committee that has representations not just the people chosen by the leadership of the party, but also representations from the five aspirants that are running for the presidential ticket of our party. This is something that is been done transparently with their advice and their concerns looked into.”
Follow Us
