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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