APC says Alhassan has apologised over Atiku support comment

The All Progressives Congress has said that the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan, has apologised for declaring support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister had last week said she will support Atiku if he decides to run for president in 2019 even if Buhari also decides to run for a second term in office.

The APC had following the statement summoned her to the party secretariat in Abuja in a closed-door meeting presided over by the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

The minister had told newsmen after the meeting that lasted for about two hours when accosted to comment on the outcome of the meeting “I can’t talk when the APC spokesman is here with me. I’m not the party’s spokesperson.”

The APC national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, speaking on what transpired at the meeting revealed that Alhassan had accepted her fault and apologised. Although he said that the minster has the right to give support to whosoever she like, he however said that the timing of her statement was wrong.

According to him, “Since the issue of the comment she made came up, the party had not said anything regardless of what individuals might have told you because we are a party that recognises the right of her members to express their opinions or views.

“We also had an opportunity to discuss with the minister to understand what she said and in what context she said so before knowing how to respond. So, when she came, we asked her to explain to us what truly transpired and in what context she said what she said and she did offer the explanation..

“Now, having offered her explanation, we acknowledged that as a member of this party, she is entitled to her opinion and she is entitled to her choice. However, as a senior member of this party, her statement represents an act of indiscretion because with the kind of position she occupies within the party, she is a party leader in her own right, what she said was not what she was supposed to say at the time that she said it.

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“She ought to have exercised greater judgment than she did and she acknowledged that yes, maybe she ought not to have. Maybe the timing was wrong and she apologised if she had put the party in any difficult position.

“If this was 2018 and the people have filed their applications to say they are contesting and she now comes out and says she is supporting this person, how can that be an issue? But we are still in 2017. We are still far away.

“(Former Vice President) Atiku (Abubakar) has not said he is contesting. He has not collected any form. He has not announced to anybody that he is contesting. So, that is what we mean by the timing.” Abdullahi said.

 

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