Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari turned down his call to anoint a candidate prior to the All Progressives Congress, APC’s presidential primaries at the Eagles Square in Abuja.
President Buhari days before the APC primary had asked the Progressives Governors to allow him pick his successor, indication that the President had someone in mind to take over from him in 2023.
During an interview on Channels Television on Friday evening, El-Rufai said the President overcame the pressure of deciding who the Kaduna delegates would vote for among the five Southern aspirants submitted to him.
“I went to Mr President [Muhammadu Buhari] and asked him ‘have you decided who we should vote for?’ And he said, ‘I told you, go and vote for any of the five’,” El-Rufai said.
“And I said, ‘Mr. President, Kaduna delegates are your delegates, you’re going to retire and live in Kaduna. So you can tell me who you want out of the five?’
“And Mr. President said ‘I want all five, let the delegates choose. Tell them to vote their conscience. They’re representing 10 million people of Kaduna State. It is their responsibility. So let them discharge it and choose the right candidate.”
Former Lagos Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu won the presidential primary after he scored 1,271 to defeat his closest challenger, former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, who polled 316.