April 29, 2022

Two presidential aspirants on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) have lost N80 million as they were disqualified by the Presidential Screening Committee which  cleared 15 aspirants on Friday in Abuja. Each aspirant paid a non-refundable N40m to procure the form.

Chairman of the committee and former Senate President, Sen. David Mark, who spoke with newsmen at the end of the exercise did not name those disqualified, but said they did not meet the party’s requirements.

He said those disqualified could petition the party’s Appeals Panel on Saturday if they were not satisfied.

“We have been very thorough this time around. We spent so much time to screen each individual who has been here.

“We screened 17 aspirants, which is quite a number. We cleared 15, two have not been cleared.

“We have not released the result to the aspirants.

“We are quite satisfied with the standard of the aspirants by and large. We think that any one of them who gets the ticket would win the election in 2023,’’ Mark said.

He said the committee would submit its recommendations to the National Working Committee of the party on Friday as the Appeals Committee would be sitting on Saturday.

Mark also told newsmen that those not cleared should not expect a refund of money spent to obtain the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.