John Odigie-Oyegun, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 presidential screening committee, said all aspirants, except one, showed willingness to abide by the party’s decision on consensus.

“All the aspirants were engaged on the issue of consensus and it was a pleasant surprise that 98 to 99 per cent of them agreed that the party is supreme, that whatever it finally decides with proper consultations, would likely be accepted,” Mr Odigie-Oyegun mentioned while presenting the report of the 7-man panel to APC national chairman Abdullahi Adamu.

“Though one aspirant said that; ‘yes I will accept consensus so long as it is settled on me'” he added.

Mr Odigie-Oyegun and his committee quizzed 23 presidential aspirants of the APC on May 30 and 31 at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

Mr Odigie-Oyegun, a former chairman of the party, noted that the committee pruned the number of aspirants down to 13 but refrained from mentioning those who scaled through.

He also noted that the committee, in arriving at its report, strongly considered aspirants’ youthfulness, their background and the ability to lead the country forward.

“It is on that basis, that who you are, what you are and what you have achieved and the understanding of your mission and what you think you can do to move the country forward made our final list,” Mr Odigie-Oyegun explained.

The comments have since generated anxiety among top contenders who are angling to ascertain if they make the cut for the APC primary scheduled to hold on June 6-8.