The Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai in a Radio Interview alongside Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido challenged the former VP on the reasons he gave for leaving the APC.
The former VP of Nigeria had claimed that the ruling party APC had abandoned him after he gave out money to sponsor the campaign of the current President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
Gov. El Rufai refuted this claim and asked Mr Abubakar to provide proof backing his claim.
According to the Kaduna state governor, Mr Atiku Abubakar left the All Progressives Congress (APC) not because the party had abandoned him as he claimed but because APC governors had approved of President Muhammadu Buhari decision for a second term in 2019.
As stated in Premium Times “Atiku had seen that we in the APC, especially the APC governors, had made up our mind to support President Muhammadu Buhari to run again in 2019,” Mr. El-Rufai said. “That is why he left APC since he was only looking for where to contest for president.”
He also added that the former VP knew that if he had remained in the party his presidential ambition in 2019 might be futile as he lost his ticket in the 2015 primaries to Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former Kano state governor
“Even in the 2015 APC primary election, Atiku didn’t come second; he was floored by Kwankwaso. So, even if President Buhari decides not to contest, Atiku knows that the APC ticket is not sure for him. Majority of the APC governors have endorsed President Buhari as our candidate for 2019.”
Furthermore, Mr El-Rufai assured a win for President Buhari in the 2019 election.
“So, by 2019, we are waiting to see Atiku contest; we are waiting to contest against him and see what happens. I cannot lose sleep over Atiku’s Presidential ambition because, by God’s grace, this is the reign of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
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