Politics
APC says Atiku yet to formally resign, as El-Rufai welcomes his exit
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai Friday expressed delight over the resignation of former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it was good riddance and a welcome development.
He said it was good that Abubakar left the APC early, adding that the party was already aware that he would leave in December.
The Kaduna State governor said if given the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former Vice-President would not be a threat to President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.
El-Rufai made these comments in an interview with State House correspondents after joining Buhari in observing Juma’at at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He described Atiku as a serial defector and presidential aspirant, saying no governor will leave the party with him.
The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday said “not one” governor from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, would decamp with the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who just exited the party.
He was reacting to the exit of Abubakar from Nigeria’s ruling party on Friday.
El-Rufai insisted that all APC governors would not follow Atiku in leaving the party.
“That I am sure of. I can speak authoritatively about it because I’m in touch with my colleagues,” he noted.
“The only governor that he would think will go with him, the governor of Adamawa State has already endorsed President Buhari for the 2019 elections. And there are many governors, I will not mention the number but a majority of the APC governors have already taken the position that the president should run for a second term in office.”
El-Rufai also said, ”Atiku is not and has never been a threat to Buhari.
“…we are confident that the way to preserve our party and preserve and advance the interest of Nigeria is for Mr. President to run for a second term. I’m curious to see which APC governor will go with Atiku,” he said.
Meanwhile, the APC said it was yet to receive a letter of resignation from Abubakar.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made this known Friday in Abuja.
Read also: Unsure of his survival in APC, Atiku resigns
Abdullahi said that the APC leadership had not seen any formal notification on the purported resignation, adding, however, that “based on what we have seen in the social media, we can say that it is surprising”.
“For us, politics is all about interest, so, if the former Vice President feels that his interest is better served elsewhere, we don’t have any issues with that.
“We can always wish him good luck. For us, the task of building a political party is not a day’s job; it is a marathon.
“And it takes many years and we will continue to improve our system to get the kind of party we want to really build,” Abdullahi said.
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Anita Kingsley
November 25, 2017 at 11:57 am
One thing El-Rufai is that he’s very blunt and will always speak his mind no matter what, if everyone in APC isn’t happy about Atiku’s exit, at least one person is and not ashamed of saying it
Animashaun Ayodeji
November 25, 2017 at 12:04 pm
That’s one thing I appreciate about him, El-Rufai is not like some other politicians in APC who are scared of letting the world know they are happy Atiku left APC
Animashaun Ayodeji
November 25, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Atiku’s stay in APC will forever be a threat to the party because the party cannot give him what he wants, which is the presidential ticket of 2019. It’s good he resigned, there won’t be much problem for the party to give the ticket to its best candidate
Abeni Adebisi
November 25, 2017 at 12:45 pm
El-Rufai is also nursing the same ambition as Atiku, and no one should expect him to feel sad about Atiku’s exit. El-Rufai’s competitor just left, the higher advantage he has
seyi jelili
November 25, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Atiku was never an apc man from the outset, he is a full blown pdp man but insatiable appetite for presidency is swaying him about.