Politics
SEVEN state governors from the northern part of the country on Friday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
All the governors were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
The governors are Abubakar Bello (Niger); Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Jibrilla Bindo (Adamawa) and Simon Lalong (Plateau).
Some of the governors had earlier joined Buhari for the Jumat prayers inside a mosque located near his office before the brief meeting.
Ganduje later told State House correspondents that the governors were on separate visits and decided to meet with the President after the prayers.
“We are seven in number here but we came separately, not for any purpose but after the Friday prayers, we decided to say hello to Mr. President.
“It is just a coincidence that we met in the mosque and some joined us later and we decided to go and greet him,” he said.
But el-Rufai said all the seven governors, who met with the President, were committed to his re-election and had no apologies for their stand.
He said they felt satisfied with the way the President’s health continued to improve.
El-Rufai said, “We are politicians and those of us you see here want the President to contest the 2019 election. We have no apologies for that.
“We believe in Mr. President; we want him to continue running the country in the right direction.
“People can speculate about 2019, we have no apologies. Whether they are right or wrong is beside the point.
“Everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but as governors, and most of us here, with the exception of the Yobe State Governor (Gaidam), are first-time governors. We are interested in continuity and stability and we want the President to continue with that.
“Like our leader, the governor of Kano, said, we just happen to be here by coincidence and we went to pray and decided to felicitate with the President and we feel satisfied that anytime we see him, he is getting better and better.” – Punch
– Jan. 13, 2018 @ 03:50 GMT |
Tags: Abubakar Bello Buhari seven northern govs in closed-door meeting Ibrahim Gaidam Nasir el-Rufai President Muhammadu Buhari Yahaya Bello
