Another APC Presidential Aspirant Withdraws from Race, Gives Reason

• Ahead of the presidential primary of the ruling APC, another aspirant, Adamu Garba, has withdrawn from the race
• The high cost of the forms, N100 million, Garba said, is the reason why he decided to pull out of the race to succeed President Buhari in 2023
• The APC chieftain who had raised N83.2 million in private and online donations said the money would be returned to donors

FCT, Abuja - Adamu Garba, one of the presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has withdrawn from contesting the ruling party’s ticket.

Garba, according to Daily Trust, briefed newsmen about the new development on Monday, May 9, in Abuja.

The APC chieftain said he withdrew from the race due to the high cost of obtaining APC expression of interest and nomination forms for presidency and the cost of running for political office.

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According to Garba, the high cost would promote financialisation and commercialization of the country’s political space.

Garba said his decision not to obtain APC presidential form followed due consultation with his campaign team, which, he said, had generated N83.2 million in private and online donations.

He said the fund would be returned to the donors.

I will announce next move soon, Garba says

Meanwhile, Garba also said his next political move would be announced in coming days.

The APC chieftain lamented that his party had taken several steps that may likely dent its democratic credentials.

His words:

“We believe this action is capable of over financialising our political space, institutionalizing vote-buying, encouraging corruption, and complete obliteration the youth and the poor from participation.

“When we raised this concern on several media fora, the party, however, believed the high cost of form will separate the serious contenders from unserious ones.

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“This goes contrary to our belief that you can only separate serious contenders from unserious ones by the competency, capacity, credibility, strength of the programme, workable solutions, and sellable candidate to Nigeria through rapid intraparty debates and other high-level criteria reviews that can ensure we present a better leader for future for Nigeria.

“We further discovered that even if we went ahead to obtain the form, the party has foreclosed the plan for primary election because of the presence of the request for a Letter of Voluntary withdrawal on page 18 of the nomination form.

“I cannot, in all honesty, rally funds from my supporters in the hope that we will be having a primary election, then sign a postdated letter of voluntary withdrawal from the contest.”

Senator Orji Kalu pulls out of 2023 presidential race

In a related development, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, another presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC, has also announced his withdrawal from the race.

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In a statement sighted by Legit.ng on Monday, May 9, Kalu said his decision was informed by the fact that the ruling party has refused to zone the presidency, particularly to the southeast zone where he hails from.

The former governor of Abia state also announced that he has picked the form to run for Abia North Senatorial zone election.

Source: Legit.ng