Fourteen
governors belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress [APC] are
angry that they were deliberately not invited to two meetings organised
by Kaduna State Governor Nasiru el-Rufa’i and Transport Minister Rotimi
Amaechi all geared towards the 2019 elections, a top source in the
ruling party told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday.
The affair has
already ruffled feathers within APC and the 14 governors are demanding
to know why they were left out of consultations, the source said.
Daily
Trust learnt that two were held in October and December, this year at
the Abuja residence of Amaechi, who hosted the meeting together with
Governor El-Rufa’i. Even though the meetings were initially billed as
“political consultation,” they were actually meant to extract a pledge
of allegiance to President Muhammadu Buhari to emerge as APC’s candidate
for the 2019 presidential election.
According to the
top sources, the first meeting which took place in October was attended
by Governors El-Rufa’i, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano,
Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi, Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa and Ibrahim
Gaidam of Yobe State.
Daily Trust learnt each governor was
separately invited for “political consultation.” When each governor
arrived, El-Rufa’i and Amaechi prevailed on him to pledge allegiance to
President Buhari in 2019. Each of the governors did so, after which
El-Rufa’i led them to attend congregational Friday prayers at the
Presidential Villa Mosque on Friday, October 27, 2017.
Immediately
after the prayers, the president received the six governors in
audience. El-Rufa’i, who spoke on their behalf, said they were at the
Villa to pledge allegiance to the President and assure him of their
support in the 2019 election. Daily Trust learnt that Buhari thanked
them for the visit but he did not say whether or not he will seek
re-election.
Two months’ later according to our highly informed
sources, Amaechi and El-Rufa’i invited another batch of APC governors to
the Transport Minister’s Abuja residence. Those who attended the second
meeting were Governors Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau, Mohammed Jibrilla
Bindow of Adamawa, Samuel Ortom of Benue and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of
Kebbi. This meeting took place last Monday, December 18, 2017. Sources
said the newly recruited governors were also invited for “political
consultation” and they did not know the real reason for the invitation
until they arrived at Amaechi’s house.
According to our top
sources, there is a lot of speculation within APC as to the reason why
15 governors were not involved in the scheme.
The source said
Governors Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, Abiola
Ajimobi of Oyo and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State were probably shut out
because they are believed to be loyal to APC National Leader Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, whose loyalty to Buhari in 2019 is not certain. The source
however expressed surprise that governors such as Ibikunle Amosun of
Ogun, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, Kashim Shettima of Borno, Aminu Masari
of Katsina, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and Owelle Rochas Okorocha of
Imo, who are also known to be loyal Buhari supporters, were kept in the
dark by El-Rufa’i and Amaechi. The source noted that these governors
are also known to be close to Buhari and that Okorocha has publicly
endorsed Buhari for 2019 on several occasions.
The sources said
Governors Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger
“were probably left out because they are believed to be close to Senate
President Abubakar Bukola Saraki,” who is thought to nurse presidential
ambitions.
The source however said “it is not clear” Governors
Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto and Muhammad Badaru Abubakar were
excluded from the meetings.
Another APC chieftain who also
craved for anonymity told Daily Trust that many party chieftains believe
that Governor El-Rufa’i and Minister Amaechi are laying the ground for a
joint ticket which they hope Buhari will endorse in case he decides not
to seek re-election in 2019. He said, “They are trying to ingratiate
themselves with the president, to convince him that they are his most
ardent backers. The trick is that if he decides not to run as they think
he won’t, they believe he will endorse the two of them to grab the
party’s ticket.”
We’ll work with govs for Buhari’s second term- APC
The
National Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Maimala Buni, said last night
that as the ruling party, whatever the governors did legally in order to
convince President Buhari to run for a second term is an endorsement of
what the party had said repeatedly.
Buni said if really the
governors had met with Buhari on 2019, then that should be a positive
story for all well meaning Nigerians.
He said while Buhari
continued to serve Nigeria and Nigerians, it should be seen as a
legitimate venture if individuals or groups said he should be given a
chance to continue.
“We are happy with the moves by our governors
if really they made any such move to encourage Buhari to go for a
second term and continue with the good work he is doing.
“Remember
that we collectively passed a vote of confidence on the President
during our last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja. We
still stand by that; our president deserves our support.
“President
Buhari has the right of first refusal. This is the tradition all over
the world. As a party, we would keep to our promise through President
Buhari in the areas of fighting corruption, security of life of
Nigerians and revitalization of the economy through self-sufficiency in
agriculture, power generation, infrastructure and education.
“Nigeria
is on a path to glory through President Buhari; what the governors are
doing is therefore legitimate, we are fully with them just the way
Nigerians are truly in support of the president.
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