Nigerian Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi, walked out of the meeting which Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some other party leaders held with the Ekiti state APC governorship aspirants on Tuesday.
The meeting took place at the Lagos state government house in Asokoro, Abuja.
Some of the party leaders in attendance were Bisi Akande, pioneer chairman of the party; Segun Osoba, former Ogun state governor; Niyi Adebayo, former Ekiti state governor; and Pius Akinyelure; zonal vice chairman of the APC in the south-west.
The minister, who walked out of the room ahead of other aspirants and party leaders, ignored reporters who approached him. He entered his car and his driver sped off.
But Akande who spoke with journalists said the outcome of the meeting would be presented to the national working committee (NWC) of the party.
Asked if there were discussion on a consensus candidate, he said it is an option since the party’s constitution is not against it.
“Primary election is written in our constitution but all we want is the happiness of the generality of the leadership, the contestants and our party in general,” Akande said.
“We took a decision on what will be the best advantage to our party and the country. Consensus is written in our constitution and it is an option.”
When asked if the aspirants agreed on a consensus candidate, Akande said they were asked to think about it and report back to the leaders.
When the meeting reconvened around 7:30pm, other aspirants were there but Fayemi and Ayo Arise, a former senator, were not seen.
Tanko Al-Makura, governor of Nasarawa state, and chairman of the election committee, joined the second part of the meeting.
Akande speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting:
After the botched primary, Fayemi accused Babafemi Ojudu, a presidential aide, and Bimbo Daramola, a former member of the house of representatives, of conspiring to thwart the exercise, which he claimed was in his favour.
Delegates from four local government areas had concluded voting when the exercise was disrupted. Fayemi said he was leading in the votes cast.
The APC leadership has fixed July 11 for a fresh primary.