By our reporter| Two days after pledging their loyalty to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna state on Sunday said they will support the presidential bid of transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi.
The state governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who addressed the delegates on their preferred presidential candidate, said the delegates made the choice to support Tinubu without listening to the other contenders.
“I told you when you made that pledge to Asiwaju that others may not come, because of what you have done. You made that choice without listening to anyone else. Today you have seen the difference,” el-Rufai said.
“You’ve heard Amaechi, you’ve seen what he has done. And he has brought a very strong security team. So you know what will happen with our security if he is in charge.
The governor further narrated how in 2011, Amaechi, a then PDP governor of Rivers State gave the defunct CPC money to hold its convention.
Since then, President Muhammadu Buhari asked me to continue talking to him. When they were thinking of defecting to APC, we used to meet with the seven governors before two chickened out.
Amaechi turned his back against his own neighbour, Goodluck Jonathan, and said he was going to follow Buhari. He held on to that trust, that is why Daura Emirate gave him that title of Dan Amanan Daura.”
“So I want to ask you two questions. Are we in Kaduna state APC committed, as a matter of fairness and justice, to the presidency of Nigeria going to the south?
The governor repeated the question multiple times and the delegates responded with “yes” each time.
“Now the second thing. You’ve seen Governor Amaechi. You’ve heard his history, you’ve listened to his pitch. What are you going to do? Who are you supporting now?”
In response, most of the delegates chanted “Dan Amanar” — Amaechi’s traditional title from Daura, Katsina state, while some retorted with “your choice”.
To clarify their stance, the governor asked again “are you supporting Dan Amanar” and the majority responded with a chorused “yes”.
“I thought you said you were supporting Asiwaju[Tinubu]. You know, people say that delegates will never see heaven. Because today you say something, tomorrow you do another thing, El-rufai continued.
“You are the delegates. I have only one vote. You are the leaders of the party in Kaduna. Whatever you decide is what we will do.
“You have a huge mandate on you and you must choose what is best for Kaduna and Nigeria.”
Speaking earlier, Amaechi, who announced he would resign as minister on Monday,
told the delegates he is young and the most experienced of all the Presidential Aspirants.
According to him, the presidency requires agility of a young man, hence the elderly people should go home and rest.
“I will continue with President Buhari’s Agricultural transformations to address hunger,” he said, adding that the present administration had inherited poverty but has been able to change the situation positively.”
“You need to vote for a candidate that will protect and provide for all regardless of region, religion, and tribe and that is what am promising you,” he said.
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