The presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says his absence at the party’s primaries was because of its refusal to zone the ticket to the South-East.
Nwajiuba, the immediate past Minister of State for Education, was conspicuously absent when he and the other 22 aspirants were called to the podium to deliver their speeches on Tuesday night before the commencement of voting at Eagle Square, the venue of the APC presidential primaries.
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In a statement issued on Wednesday by his relative, Chinedum Nwajiuba, the former minister, who hails from Imo State, said the understanding from the highest levels prior to his involvement, and considering his role in the founding of the APC, was a consensus.
He said, “With that understanding, the presidential ticket was to come to the South, and the South-East.
“This has been the hope till the end of the negotiations. He, not wanting to be part of the dollar and naira bazaar, is convinced that what Nigeria needs now is no more of the same thing that has kept Nigeria at the low level it has been.
“Our challenges as a country cannot be addressed at the same energy level by which they were created.”