2023 polls: No automatic ticket for decampees, says APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says there will be no automatic candidacy for new entrants and defectors into the party.

Several politicians have defected to the ruling party, including Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation.

In a chat with Channels TV on Wednesday, John Akpanudoedehe, national secretary of the APC caretaker committee, had said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan will be allowed to contest for presidency in 2023 if he joins the party.

His comments had sparked rumours that the former president had secretly joined the ruling party.

Clarifying this, Akpanudoedehe, in a statement on Friday, said joining the APC does not translate to automatic candidacy in any election for such individuals.

He said the waiver by the party’s NEC stated that all new members would be granted waivers to run for various offices in the party, including the 2023 elections.

He, however, added that the waiver was not restricted to anyone as it is being “misconstrued and misrepresented in some sections”.

Akpanudoedehe said all APC members, irrespective of status, must go through the party’s nomination process as expressed in its constitution.

“The APC National Executive Committee (NEC) resolution of 8th December 2020 approved the granting of waivers to persons who have recently joined the party and those desirous of joining the party in the nearest future to contest for positions in the APC and as party flag bearers in general elections,” the statement reads.

“For the records, in my recent television interview reaction to the rumoured plans by former President Goodluck Jonathan to join the APC, my statement was that NEC resolution was a blanket waiver to all new APC entrants, including the interviewee.

“The waiver is definitely not specific to anyone as being misconstrued and misrepresented in some sections.

“Coming into the party gives no one special status of being an automatic party candidate in any election. All aspirants must undergo the nomination processes outlined by the APC constitution.”