By our reporter
The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed why the North-West and North-East national delegates for the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential primaries, chose Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu instead of former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi and Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.
According to El-Rufai, governors of the North-West met and decided that Tinubu, who is the national leader of the APC, is the most sellable of the five Southern aspirants submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
And again, President Buhari refused to pick a particular candidate out of the five and insisted he asked the governors to allow the delegates decide, El-Rufai said
The APC presidential primary was won by the former Lagos State Governor, Tinubu, who scored 1,271 to defeat his closest challenger, Amaechi, who polled 316 while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, came only third in the primaries, polling 235
And El-Rufai said it was so because the governors from the North-West resolved that Tinubu was the best bet and the North East also abided.
“I can’t say all of us stuck with Bola Tinubu. Not all of us were stuck with Bola Tinubu. In many of our states, the delegates’ votes were divided. And I went to address the Kaduna delegates for the last time before the voting.
Meanwhile, Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has slammed those making religion a focal point in governance.
The Governor said he does not care if the President and his vice are all Muslim or all Christians, insisting that what matters at this point is the delivery of good governance.
To buttress his point, Governor El-Rufai recalled that it was a Lagos-based Pentecostal pastor, Tunde Bakare that brought him into the CPC in 2014 and not President Muhammadu Buhari as it is believed in the general public.
El-Rufai, who is believed to be among those who could be favoured for the All Progressives Congress, APC’s Vice president slot, said people should rather focus on the ability, capacity and competency of individuals instead of their regions.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Southern Muslim, won the APC presidential primary after he scored 1,271 to defeat his closest challenger, Amaechi, who polled 316.
The search for running mates for parties’ flagbearers is now in earnest, following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s order to all presidential candidates to submit names of their co-contestants in one week.
Many individuals and groups have vehemently kicked against any move by Tinubu and the APC to pick a Muslim as vice.
