By Dahiru Ibrahim Biso
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday afternoon cleared all doubts about where he stands on the choice of a presidential candidate for the governing All Progressives Congress, APC.
Speaking at a meeting with the Governors at the State House, Abuja, President Buhari said the party was important and its members must be respected and made to feel they are important.
A release issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu quoted President Buhari as saying: “I have no preferred candidate,” and I have “anointed no one,” and I am determined to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
The President said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC governors to feel the same way: “You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain. We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The Party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody.”
Earlier in their addresses, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Bako Lalong and Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of the Progressive Governors Forum, said they had come to affirm the position of the Northern Governors that the party’s candidate in the presidential election shall come from the southern part of the country.
