The National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was said to have announced Lawan as the consensus candidate, a decision members of the National Working Committee reportedly disagreed with.

In a meeting on Monday with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Northern governors insisted that power should rotate to Southern part of the country in 2023.

The Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, briefed State House reporters after the meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

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He said the 13 of them apologised to the president for receiving the information about their position after it was leaked.

The governor, however, said that they took the decision in the interest of justice and peace in the country.

Lalong, who stated that they would hold another meeting by 5pm today among themselves, said the president agreed with their position and maintained that the presidential candidate must emerge through a transparent process.

He said President Buhari told them he did not have an anointed candidate for now and directed them to meet the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to agree on the succession plan.

On the absence of the Governor of Kogi State at the meeting where the power shift decision was taken, he said his colleague was not part of the agreement as his signature was not on the statement.

In his contribution, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said it was the democratic right of Kogi governor to excuse himself.