President Muhammadu Buhari says state duties prevented him from attending the gubernatorial rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State.
The president, in a statement last night by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu, said his absence at the rally could not have been a snub.
Shehu was denying the accusations by the Kogi State chapter of the APC that Buhari ever had any preferred candidate in the APC gubernatorial primaries in the state, saying the party’s flag bearer, Prince Abubakar Audu, emerged through a democratic process.
The presidential spokesman said it was surprising that the petitioners were making an issue out of Buhari’s absence at the rally after the party had explained it in details.
Shehu, who stressed that Buhari harboured nothing but good wishes for Audu, said: “The president will support former Governor Audu as our candidate and will do all that’s lawful and compatible with the decency and respect that is associated with his office to ensure his (Audu’s) victory”.
“As a democrat himself, the president has nothing but respect for the outcome of the Kogi primaries. Democracy is about the people’s choice, and, so whoever the voters have chosen to represent them is the person the president will support. The president is very aware of the former Governor Audu’s outstanding role in the processes leading to his emergence as the APC presidential candidate followed by his emergence as the elected president of the country”.
Shehu said the president counselled Kogi APC leaders against petty differences as well as urged them to focus more on bigger issues of the party’s growth and close ranks to do all that is lawful to ensure Audu’s victory.
