Barely 24 hours to the Presidential Primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the South-West caucus leaders met with the seven presidential aspirants from the zone in Abuja.
The leader’s meeting of the zone was held hours after President Muhammadu Buhari met with the 23 presidential aspirants of the party.
Newsflash Nigeria understands that the seven aspirants from the zone attended the caucus meeting held at the Abuja residence of former Ogun State governor, Olusegun Osoba.
It was gathered the leaders of the party from the zone streamlined their options for the region’s consensus preference to three aspirants.
The meeting which kicked off on Saturday night around 10 pm continued till Sunday morning around 1:00 am as stakeholders from the region battled for a consensus candidate.
The seven aspirants from the region include Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate, Ajayi Boroffice; former Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun; Lagos cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole.
Newsflash Nigeria gathered that it would be difficult for the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu to step down but the leaders urged four aspirants to step down due to their limited campaign activities for the top office.
The four aspirants asked to step down are Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Tunde Bakare and Dimeji Bankole due to their limited campaign activities for the position.
The aspirants who agreed to step down have yet to issue an official statement, and their respective spokespersons could not be reached for comments Sunday morning.
The outcome of the first round of talks has left Governor Kayode Fayemi, Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as the three standing aspirants from the South-West.
Newsflash Nigeria recalls that President Buhari had during the meeting on Saturday, urged the 23 aspirants to consult, discuss within themselves and come up with a candidate before the primary election slated for Monday.
