Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Friday said northern governors were committed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid and have no apologies for their stand.
El-Rufai was speaking after seven state governors from the Northern part of the country met behind closed doors with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
All the governors were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
The governors are Abubakar Bello (Niger); Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); Jibrilla Bindo(Adamawa) and Simon Lalong (Plateau).
El-Rufai said they felt satisfied that whenever they met the President, they always noticed that he was getting better as far as his state of health was concerned.
He said, “We are politicians and those of us you see here want the President to contest the 2019 election. We have no apologies for that.
“We believe in Mr. President, we want him to continue running the country in the right direction.
“People can speculate about 2019, we have no apologies. Whether they are right or wrong is beside the point.
“Everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but as governors, and most of us here with the exception of Yobe Governor, are first time governors, we are interested in continuity and stability and we want the President to continue with that.”
Some of the governors had earlier joined Buhari for the Jumat prayers inside a mosque located near his office before the brief meeting.
Ganduje later told State House correspondents that the governors were on separate visits and they decided to meet with the President after the prayers.
“We are seven in number here but we came separately, not for any purpose but after the Friday prayers, we decided to say hello to Mr. President.
“It is just a coincidence that we met in the mosque and some joined us later and we decided to go and greet him,” he said.
