Mallam Nasiru El-rufaiKaduna state governor has written off Atiku Abubakar who quit the All Progressives Congress (APC) today, Friday.
“But the former Vice President is always looking for an opportunity to contest. He is a serial contestant and we wish him luck.”
Governor el-Rufai, who fielded questions from reporters at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, today, Friday, said that some of them actually formed the APC and that some others like Atiku joined it later because he thought that the APC was a platform for which he would contest election. But when he didn’t get the opportunity, he started looking around.
“I have heard about what the former Vice President said about leaving the APC. We knew he was going to leave in December but he has left in November which is good because the earlier he leaves for where he belongs the better. He has changed political parties a few times. There is nothing surprising.
“Before the 2019 elections if situation changes and he thinks he can get the ticket in 2019, he will come back. That is what he has done a few times.”
On the allegation in some quarters that Atiku was driven out of the party, the Kaduna state governor insisted that no one has driven him out of the party.
“The APC is an equal opportunity platform for everyone. He has in his statement of leaving the party, made reference to the memo I wrote to Mr. President in September 2016, where I was calling on the President to reach out to party leaders that feel aggrieved and I mentioned him, the Asiwaju and many others. “The others are still in the APC because they believe in the direction of the party, they believe we have come to save the country from a very bad situation.”
On the kind of loyal APC members that might go with Atiku, he assured that there is no one governor in the APC that is going to go with him.
“The only governor that he would think will go with him, the governor of Adamawa State, has already endorsed President Buhari for the 2019 elections. “And there are many governors; I will not mention the number, but a majority of the APC governors have already taken the position that the president should run for a second term in office.
“And we are grateful to the Almighty God that the question marks about his health have been put to rest. He is getting better everyday and we are confident that the way to preserve our party and preserve and advance the interest of Nigeria is for Mr. President to run for a second term. I’m curious to see which APC governor will go with Atiku.
“As for party loyalists. it depends on what you define as loyalists. We will wait and see how that evolves. But as a governor, I want to assure you that not one governor is going to leave the party to go with the former Vice President. That I am sure of. I can speak authoritatively about it because I’m in touch with my colleagues.”
Governor el-Rufai insisted that Atiku had never been and would never be a threat to President Buhari.
“Let me say this very clearly, and I have said this to the former Vice President in 2014 in Dubai when we met because before joining the APC, he sent for me. He told me of his intentions and I welcomed it because politics is a game of addition not subtraction. So the more you have the merrier.
“However, I told him not to run for the presidency because I believe very strongly this is Buhari’s era. As long as President Muhammadu Buhari is in politics, I do not see any Nigerian from the northern part of the country that will be able to match him in popularity.
“The people of the nineteen northern states and Nigeria have decided because of the President’s past history of Integrity and good governance; they are committed to him. “Anyone standing up to challenge him is wasting his time. God has decreed that this is Buhari’s time and we are waiting for the PDP to give Atiku Abubakar the ticket and we will face him on the field. But I have no doubt that I will not lose any sleep about it.”[myad]
