Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has disclosed why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the candidate of North-West and North-East national delegates for the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries.
Recall that Tinubu had emerged as the party’s presidential flagbearer ahead of the 2023 presidential elections after polling half of the votes cast to beat over thirteen opponents including the former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, and Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.
El Rufai while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said after Nothern governors had recommended five southern aspirants, President Muhammadu Buhari had told the delegates to “vote their conscience.”
According to the governor, Northern governors had met and decided that Tinubu is the most sellable aspirant.
“I can’t say all of us stuck with Bola Tinubu. Not all of us were stuck with Bola Tinubu. In many of our states, the delegates’ votes were divided. And I went to address the Kaduna delegates for the last time before the voting,
“I don’t know how the delegates voted but the feedback I got after the voting is that most of them voted Asiwaju, some voted for Amaechi and some voted for Vice president, Osinbajo.
“But overall you can see that overwhelming, Asiwaju Tinubu won. I cannot say all the governors did that. We the Northwest governors met and we decided that our best bet, is the person we can most easily sell in our region, and that is Asiwaju Tinubu and this is why you see the pattern of the voting that way and where the North-West goes, the North East follows,” he stated.
