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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Thirteen governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the North, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, insisted the presidential ticket of the party must go to the South.
According to the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (PGF) and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, who led the team to the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the president has no anointed among the aspirants as the flag bearer of the party.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, Lalong said President Buhari has requested the governors to have a meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to resolve the issue of consensus candidate through democratic means.
Lalong, who was flanked by 12 other governors, said they told the president of their decision to ensure that power returns to the South for the sake of equity and unity of the country.
He said the meeting with the NWC has been slated for 5 pm Monday.
He said President Buhari told them that, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, he has not endorsed any of the 23 candidates aspiring to clinch the presidential ticket of the APC, ahead of the party’s primary election.
The meeting with the President is the second in two days, said: “The President told us that for the APC presidential primaries, he has no anointed candidate and therefore directed that the Progressive Governors’ Forum meet with the National Working Committee of the party to agree and proffer further solutions and recommendations for his successor.
“And based on his directive, the Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum has summoned a meeting for 5;00 (local time) today, after which we will make further suggestions to the President.”
He added that the Governors were at the Presidential Villa to apologise to the president because they met at the weekend and took a position of support for power shift to the southern part of the country in the spirit of fairness but before they could convey their position to the President, the matter got leaked.
Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu on his part said the northern Governors believe their support for power shift to the South is good for the unity of the nation, fairness and justice.
“We looked at the totality of the issues in our country and we believe APC with a President that has delivered democratic dividends across the breadth of the country and 22 Governors, has everything going for it.
“What is the political brinkmanship that we need to bring so that every component of Nigeria will feel important? It is to allow the opportunity for other parts of the country. And this is a step that will bring more peace and resonate with every part of Nigeria,” he said.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai revealed that out of the 14 Governors of APC States in Northern Nigeria, only one, that of Kogi State, who is also an aspirant, disagrees with their position.
He was why their Kogi State counterpart, Bello, was absent from the meeting, El-Rufai said it was not compulsory for all 14 of them to agree on the southern ticket.
According to him, Bello had excused himself from the meeting with the President because he rejected the resolution made by the governors.
Those in attendance include Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Aminu Masari of Katsina, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Abubakar Bello of Niger, Yahaya Inuwa of Gombe, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara.
