A Constitutional Lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) to accept constitutional eligibility for all its presidential aspirants ahead of the upcoming party’s presidential primaries.
Ajulo gave the advice in a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the APC on Sunday in Abuja and mentioned the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as one of those qualified and eligible to run.
He said the APC must take a cue from the fate that befell it in Bayelsa State in the 2020 governorship election. The APC lost Bayelsa to the PDP due to the ineligibility of the party’s candidate, Biobarakunu Degi, as the deputy governor over certificate scandal.
Ajulo said of the 25 presidential aspirants within the APC, only three aspirants would emerge untainted, if subjected to the litmus test of the eligibility criterion. The lawyer said it was imperative to exercise pragmatism by examining the constituents of eligibility of a candidate within the confines of the law and as enshrined in the constitution.
“Specifically Chapter VI, Part 1, Section 131, and 137 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) out- lines the basic requirements to be met by a candidate to be eligible for an election into the office of the President in Nigeria,” he quoted.
He, however, said there were very few aspirants among the motley crowd whose conduct in the public sphere over the 25 years of public participation had remained unblemished.
“At the risk of sounding partisan, wisdom behoves that I acknowledge the clear reality that Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), (GCON), is perhaps the singular aspirant whose aspiration remains untainted.” He said eligibility remained an essential factor which must be upheld, and critically considered if the party must attain a credible process free from nullity and regrettable encumbrances,” he said. (New Telegraph)
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