BREAKING: Buhari denied anointing A Candidate for Now – Northern Govs

The president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), has denied appointing any presidential candidate, according to the northern governors of the All Progressives Congress.

The president is alleged to have informed the northern governors of this during a meeting on Monday.

Simon Lalong of Plateau State, speaking on behalf of the governors, said the president emphasized that he does not have a consensus candidate at this time.

This comes despite speculations that Ahmed Lawan, the Senate President, has been named the APC’s consensus candidate.

“We sat down in the last few days and took a decision and gave an advisory. While we were on our way to advise the president, part of our discussion leaked out.

“Mr Presidemt being a democrat insisted on listening to us. So, he granted us the opportunity today. Our meeting today is to reaffirm our position.

“We apologised to him that the statement was made by all of us.

“Mr Presidesnt was happy with our decision. Mr President believes in a democratic process;n that every candidate must emerge through a transparent process.

“The emphasis Mr president made was that for now, there is no anointed candidate, and therefore directed that the Progressive Governors Forum should meet with the National Working Committee of the party to agree.”

The Northern Governors of the All Progressives Congress met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, according to the PUNCH.

On Saturday, the Northern governors requested that the ruling party zone its presidential ticket to the south.

They also requested that presidential candidates from the north withdraw from the campaign.

“After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in the office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria,” read a communique issued after Monday’s meeting.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in any way affected by the decisions taken by another political party.”

Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, 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

Earlier, Alhaji Buba Galadima, a signatory to the All Progressives Congress’s 2013 merger, claimed Buhari committed to endorse former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu.

He made the assertion in an interview with The PUNCH, which was published on Monday.

“Not perfectly an agreement, but there was an understanding because Tinubu with one other person and the President also with another person sat down and the information we got was that they agreed that if Tinubu would help Buhari win, he would become the Vice-President,” Galadima said when asked if there was ever any agreement that Tinubu would succeed Buhari.” When that was not possible, they called him to ask him to assist because of the exigencies of the time, which wouldn’t have allowed for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.”

“They said that whatever he does, he should deploy and make sure that Buhari becomes President and that when he (Buhari) is going, he would also do whatever he would in his powers to assist Tinubu to become President. It looks like they are now going back on that understanding. And a promise is a promise whether written or unwritten because if you can subvert it, God knows your heart. And God never accepts betrayal. When you are committed, whether it is sour or bitter, or tasty, you have to swallow it. “Now, it looks like they want to go back on that understanding with Tinubu. This is why Tinubu is bitter and I understand this bitterness, because of what has happened to him, which I told him years back. I told him what was going to happen to him. And everything that I predicted those years is now happening. My prayer for him (Tinubu) is that he should come out of this unscathed and healthy. That is my biggest prayer for him.

“I won’t tell you but the people involved know,” he responded when asked who was present when Buhari and Tinubu allegedly formed this deal. “Tinubu came to the meeting with a former governor while Buhari came with a sitting governor. That is why that governor is solidly behind Tinubu today and because of the fear of God. But I wouldn’t want to mention the names of the two of them, because, Tinubu himself has alluded to this kind of understanding.”

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