The All Progressives Congress, APC, Governors Wednesday said that they were not jittery over the emergence of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the main opposition candidate to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s presidential election.
Atiku was elected by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its standard bearer during the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last weekend; and Buhari’s camp has since responded with series of verbal attacks against the former Vice President.
This is as some of the APC Governors and Ministers have insisted that the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole should be removed before the 2019 general elections.
Since the conduct of the APC’s primaries, there have been controversies in many states that have pitched the party’s chairman against some governors.
This has resulted in the APC governors protesting to President Muhammadu Buhari and holding series of closed-door meeting for his intervention.
Chairman of the APC Governors Forum and governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha led four governors of the party to a closed-door meeting with Buhari over the just concluded party’s primaries
The governors at yesterday’s meeting that was also attended by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, were Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Kashim Shettima (Borno); and Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos) as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Governor Okorocha who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting expressed confidence that President Buhari would be re-elected in 2019 even as he said that the party had no reason to lose sleep over Atiku’s emergence, stressing that the compendium of achievements of the President he had earlier presented will give APC victory.
He also said that the party has concluded not to engage in any verbal attacks with any candidate in the forthcoming election.
Besides, he said that the APC governors were at the State House not only to congratulate Buhari for being elected as the party’s presidential candidate, but to also request for a date when they would bring all the party’s governorship candidates to him to show their readiness for the 2019 political battles.
Another reason for the visit he said was “For the Governors to come together with our followers and supporters to further inform the world for our readiness to deliver him in 2019 election. This is just basically the message we have come and to say that Mr. President is more than ever ready for the entire exercise.
When asked whether the APC was jittery because of the emergence of for Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential candidate of the PDP and his tough stance since he emerged, he said that the party was not jittery at all.
He said, “I don’t know about talking tough, we can’t be jittery and history is there to speak, history is very important and it is there to speak so like I said we are not going to engage in this verbal war with anybody, we will be talking about issues. If we say look, you are not good, we tell you what we can do and we cannot do and what others cannot do.
“APC is not going to join in those topshop but right we are discussing issues of what our party can for our people.”
Also asked what was the President’s response, he said, “The President is quite happy with the whole outing and he is looking for a date to invite the governors, in fact, he will give us a date to celebrate him and tell the world our joy and happiness that he emerged as our Presidential flag bearer which is victory assured 2019.”