Presidential aspirants on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have been mandated to submit their interest and nomination forms with the signatures of 10 statutory delegates from each state and the Federal Capital Territory,
This means that each aspirant was required to get the signatures of 370 statutory delegates, covering the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
As of Saturday afternoon, about 30 aspirants have declared interest in the coveted office on the APC platform while about 17 aspirants had obtained the N100m forms, including National leader of the party Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and others, but it could not be ascertained how many of them had submitted the forms.
The party in the guidelines and timetables released by its National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, fixed Tuesday as the last day for the submission of the forms.
Meanwhile, the APC had come under criticism for the Form 18 ‘Letter of Withdrawal’ attached to the forms. The aspirants were expected to sign the letter and submit it with their forms and other documents.
The letter, which must be signed before a commissioner for oaths/ notary public before submission, read in part, “I hereby voluntarily withdraw my candidacy from the contest. My withdrawal is in the best interest of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.”
Some of the aspirants were said to be uncomfortable with the letter as they perceive it as a move to impose a consensus candidate on them.
