President Buhari said the party is important and its membership must be respected and must be made to feel they are important
President Muhammadu Buhari has cleared all doubts about his position on the choice of a presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He made the declaration on Monday before the party’s governors of northern states that he has “no preferred candidate,” and has “anointed no one,”.
Rather, Buhari said he was determined to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the position of the President known in a statement made available to the media on Monday in Abuja.
According to Shehu, the president gave the assurance in his remarks at a meeting with the governors when he said the party is important and its members must be respected and made to feel they are important.
NEWS: N80bn Fraud: Suspended Accountant-General, Ahmed Idris not ICAN member, says Registrar
Read the full statement below:
I HAVE ANOINTED NO ONE, THERE SHALL BE NO IMPOSITION, SAYS PRESIDENT BUHARI
President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday afternoon cleared all doubts about where he stands on the choice of a presidential candidate for the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, declaring before the party’s 14 governors of northern states that he has “no preferred candidate,” and has “anointed no one,” and is determined to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
Speaking at a meeting with the Governors at the State House, President Buhari said the party is important and its membership must be respected and must be made to feel they are important.
The President said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC governors to feel the same way: “You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain. We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The Party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody.”
Earlier in their addresses, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Bako Lalong and Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of the Progressive Governors said they had come to affirm the position of the Northern Governors that the party’s candidate in the presidential election shall come from the Southern part of the country.
They affirmed that the position was not because there were no qualified candidates from the North.
They apologised to the President for the leakage of their signed memorandum which was not in support of any particular candidate and gave their assurance to the President on their readiness to accept his leadership on the matter.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
