APC crisis: Buhari is against automatic tickets, says El-Rufai

Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai PHOTO: TWITTER/GOVERNOR KADUNA

He stated this while speaking to State house correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja yesterday. El-Rufai said he was there to brief the President on issues relating to alleged substitution of candidates for electoral offices by the party among others at the national headquarters ahead of next years’ general election.

Recall that nine APC governors on Thursday met with the President where they protested against the automatic tickets given to some members of the National Assembly. According to El-Rufai, the President was a democrat and a product of free and fair elections; hence he has decided to communicate to the APC leadership for the purpose of resolving the prevailing crisis arising from the primaries.On the chances of Senator Shehu Sani in securing the party ticket should the APC conduct an open primary, El-Rufai said it was not within his purview to resolve the matter.

“Shehu Sani has done things against the interest of the people of Kaduna state and it is time for him to explain why he did what he did and ask the delegates to vote for him but to avoid facing the consequences of your actions by getting what is called automatic ticket is a recipe to losing the election to other parties. He was largely responsible for Kaduna losing a N100 billion loan from the World Bank at 1 percent interest payable over 50 years invested in building our schools and hospitals and infrastructure. Everyone in Kaduna knows this and many people are angry. It’s an act of sabotage. It’s time for him to go and explain why he did what he did, if his actions are justified I am sure the delegates will vote for him,” he noted.