Two of the People's Democratic Party's 17 presidential candidates were disqualified on Friday in Abuja.
Senator David Mark, the Chairman of the Screening Committee, told journalists this shortly after the exercise ended at Legacy House in Abuja, the main opposition's presidential campaign headquarters.
The screening, which began at 11 a.m. and lasted until 7 p.m., included all of the candidates.
Mark, on the other hand, refused to reveal the names of the disqualified candidates or the reasons for their exclusion.
He simply stated that the candidates did not meet the panel's requirements.
While it is unclear what criteria were used to weed out the two candidates, it is likely that they were similar to those set forth by the Independent National Electoral Commission,
which had the authority to disqualify candidates for failing to follow existing electoral laws.
Mark went on to say that the results of Friday's screening would be sent to the PDP National Working Committee the same day for consideration.
As far as we're concerned, the exercise went very well, "he said. We've been here since the morning, and I'm sure you've been here since then as well. "
This time, we've been extremely thorough. See how much time we spent screening each person who came here? We interviewed 17 candidates, which is a large number. We were able to clear 15 of them, but two remained. Don't bother asking me about those who have been cleared and those who have not been cleared, because I don't know.
We haven't given them the results yet. So you're wasting your time if you ask a question in that direction. "
On the whole, I believe that's what we've accomplished. And, for the most part, we're pleased with the aspirants' performance. And we believe that whoever gets the ticket in 2023 will win the election. "
"They didn't meet the requirements," Mark said when asked what the committee found wrong with the disqualified candidates. "I can't be more specific about that."
"This night (Friday), we'll submit it," he said at the time of the report's submission to the NWC. "Those who were not cleared have a right to appeal." I'm sure they'll file an appeal because there's a good chance they'll win.