Five presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday signed a Letter of Commitment which compels them to remain in the party even after losing out in the primary election.
The undertaking also mandates them to collapse their individual campaign structures into that of the party for effective campaign of the eventual flag bearer of the party in the 2015 general election.
The aspirants who included former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, governors of Kano and Imo states, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso and Rochas Okorocha, and the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah were further barred from taking any action that would put inhibitions on the campaign wheels of the party.
Chairman of the APC Presidential Screening Committee, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, spoke of the development at a ceremony at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to present Certificate of Clearance to the aspirants who successfully underwent a screening session on Tuesday.
“We told the press earlier that our aspirants will sign a letter of commitment to the party. I am happy to announce to you that all of them, all the five aspirants were very happy to sign these letters of commitment.
“That commitment is principally to assure the party that there is none of them running for themselves. They are running to offer service to improve on the well-being of our people to bring happiness to Nigerians, to foster unity and bring peace and secure our country.”
Only one person will fly our flag. They have all agreed that whoever flies our flag, the other aspirants will support him. This is something integral to the party.
“They will collapse their structures into the party, so that the party will move into the election united and it will offer the party the best chance to win the election on february 14th,” Onu said.
The chairman also gave details of the performance of the aspirants during the screening exercise, asking Nigerians to chose between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the APC.
“During the screening exercise yesterday, we took our presidential aspirants through a very rigorous exercise. It is important that Nigerians know the sort of people, that one of whom will be the flag bearer of our great party to run for president.”
“We also tested their understanding of the problems of this nation. Whoever flies our flag will have full understanding of the problems.”
“I want to reveal to you that the score was very narrow and very high. The least scored 62 per cent and the highest scored 78 per cent. The second scored 77 percent and the third scored 75 per cent.”
“Nigerians have a choice to make, because when you have two things. You never know which is better until you try them. Nigerians ought to try the APC and give us a chance to show so that the problems in the country can be solved”, Onu said.
General Mohammdu Buhari who responded on behalf of other aspirants, thanked the committee saying they would abide by the rules.
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