GOVS, MINISTERS WANT BUHARI TO CONTEST 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – GOV. EL-RUFA’I.
GOVS, MINISTERS WANT
BUHARI TO CONTEST 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – GOV. EL-RUFA’I.
Nasiru El-Rufa’i of
Kaduna state has said that governors and ministers under the governing All
Progressives Congress (APC) have resolved to call on President Muhammadu Buhari
to contest the 2019 presidential election. El-Rufa’i, who made this known to
State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Buhari in
the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday, said the governors and the ministers
made the call as members of the “Buharist Group”. The “Buharist Group” is an
association of APC governors and ministers, whose primary aim is to promote and
defend the perceived socio-political interests of President Buhari. The
governor dismissed the assertion that he was being groomed to replace President
Buhari in 2019. According to him, as a member of the “Buharist group’’ he has
no presidential ambition as being speculated since he left the public service
as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2007. Cue in audio – 1
El-Rufa’i “My name has
continuously been mentioned as a Presidential aspirant since 2007 after my
years in the FCT, there is nothing new about that. “What I want to say here
very, very clearly is that I have never been a Presidential aspirant, I have
never even been a gubernatorial aspirant. “I am governor today by the grace of
God because President Buhari called me and said go and run for Governor of
Kaduna state. “As far as 2019 is concerned, my position is the President
(Muhammadu Buhari) is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast. My hope
and prayer is he will contest in 2019,’’ he said. Cue out audio – El-Rufa’i On
the recent political comments attributed to the Minister of Womem Affairs and
Social Development, Aishat Alhassan, El-Rufa’i said Nigerians should not be surprised
or shocked over her utterances, saying that in the APC she was never in the
Buhari camp. Aishat Alhassan had on Wednesday disclosed in a BBC Hausa Service
interview that she would rather resign as minister than abandon the former vice
president “if he decides to run for presidential elections in 2019’’. However,
El-Rufa’i said that Alhassan neither supported Buhari’s candidature during the
APC National Convention nor voted for (Buhari) him during the party primaries.
However, “This has
always been her position because from time she has never supported Buharism or
what Buhari stands for. “Being part of Buhari government is a different thing
because government sets policies and if you are a minister you execute the
policies. You can execute those policies while pursuing a different brand of
politics,’’ he said. The governor, who said he was in the Presidential Villa to
wish the President “very happy Sallah’’ and also join him in performing the
Juma’at prayer, said it was the President’s prerogative to either retain or
remove the minister from the cabinet. He said: “Look, you can retain a person
in the cabinet even if he doesn’t support you if he adds value to the country.
Because this is a government, it is not a political group fighting for some
political progress. “If Jummai Alhassan is coming as Minister of Women Afairs
and adding value to the government and the people of Nigeria it is the
President’s prerogative to retain her in spite of her political views. “But if
she is not adding value in spite of her political views she can be dispensed
with…… people shouldn’t get worried about it. I have worked closely with the
President, I know him and I know how he thinks. He doesn’t take these things
personally…. What is primary to him is Nigeria’s progress… that is what matters
ultimately.’’ On the ongoing debate on restructuring the country, El-Rufa’i,
who is chairing the APC committee on true federalism, said his committee would
start public hearings on the matter from Sept, 18. He said that the committee
had started receiving a lot of comments and memoranda particularly from young
people who had never been part of the restructuring conversation.
According to him, the
committee will have 13 public hearings across the country. “By the time we
listen to Nigerians and synthesize their views, we will write and make
recommendations to our party how to operationalise true federalism as we have
promised in our constitution,’’ he said.(NAN)