Standup9ja: We’re working on Buhari’s 2019 return - El-Rufai
El-Rufai told newsmen at the State House in Abuja before joining
President Buhari for juma’at prayer at the Presidential Villa mosque that
efforts were being made to ensure Buhari’s re-election, adding that the
Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, who recently said Buhari promised to
serve for one term was on her own as she had never supported Buhari.
Some ministers, governors and politicians under the banner
of ‘Buharists’ are working to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari
re-contests the presidential election in 2019, Kaduna State Governor Nasir
El-Rufai said yesterday.
El-Rufai told newsmen at the State House in Abuja before joining
President Buhari for juma’at prayer at the Presidential Villa mosque that
efforts were being made to ensure Buhari’s re-election, adding that the
Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, who recently said Buhari promised to
serve for one term was on her own as she had never supported Buhari.
On the minister’s recent statements, he said she had never
supported Buhari in the first place, but was entitled to her own opinion. He
added that despite her support for Atiku Abubakar at the APC primaries in 2014,
Buhari still made her minister based on the conviction that he felt she earned
the nomination in order to encourage women in politics.
“Many in the Buhari camp did not support [Alhassan’s
nomination] but [Buhari] overruled everybody because that is how he is. He
tries to be inclusive, he considers every Nigerian as his own son or daughter
and he nominated her to be minister. Her comments are not surprising, she has
never been a supporter, she has never believed in the Buhari ideology. So, I am
not surprised and as a Nigerian, as an individual, she has every right to
express her views and support whoever she wants.
“But what I am saying is that Nigerians should not be
surprised or shocked. This has always been her position because from time she
has never supported ‘Buharism’ or what Buhari stands for. Being part of Buhari
government is a different thing, because the government sets policies and if
you are a minister, you execute the policies. You can execute those policies
while pursuing a different brand of politics,” the governor said.
The governor noted that it is the president’s prerogative to
retain Alhassan in his cabinet, saying, “You can retain a person in the cabinet
even if he doesn’t support you if he adds value to the country because this is
a government, it is not a political group fighting for some political progress.
Mama Taraba, as the minister is often called, had declared
that she would support a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, for the
presidency in 2019 even if Buhari decides to contest again.
The Kaduna State governor also denied nursing any
presidential ambition, saying: “What I want to say here very, very clearly is
that I have never been a presidential aspirant. I have never even been a
gubernatorial aspirant. My name has continuously been mentioned as a
presidential aspirant since 2007, after my years in the FCT. There’s nothing
new about that. What I want to say here very clearly is that I’ve never been a
presidential aspirant, I’ve never even been a gubernatorial aspirant. I’m
governor today by the grace of God because President Buhari called me and said
go and run for governor of Kaduna State. As far as 2019 is concerned, my
position is the president is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast.
My hope and prayer is he’ll contest in 2019.”
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