In a sensational move, President Muhammadu Buhari, has said he was undecided if he will seek re-election in 2019, according to Reuters on Thursday.
Buhari who has come under intense pressure to seek or not to seek re-election was quoted as saying “the decision is personal and also for Nigerians.”
The former military dictator who defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 will be 77 by 2019 and has largely being treated for an undisclosed ailment that left him visibly weakened.
On Friday, January 12, seven All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have asked President to seek re-election in 2019 at the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja.
Those present at the meeting were: Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Abubakar Bello of Niger state .
Others are Simon Lalong of Plateau, Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe and Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa states.
El-Rufai told journalists after the meeting with the president that they were at the villa because they were “politicians”.
“Those of us you see here want the president to contest the 2019 election; we have no apologies for that,” he said.
“We believe in Mr. President, we want him to continue running the country in the right direction. People can speculate about 2019; we have no apologies.”
Mr. El-Rufai said the governors, mostly first-termers, were interested in “continuity and stability”.
However, Olubunmi Okogie, Archbishop emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, advised President Buhari to retire quietly come 2019, noting that he has performed woefully and does not deserve to be re-elected
“What has he done in the years he had been in the saddle? He has performed woefully; that’s the verdict of Nigerians.
“Let the president respect himself and retire quietly. Coming out to talk of 2019 is insulting not only to those who voted him to power but to all Nigerians.
“There are so many problems confronting the people and he should be thinking of what to do about them. For second term, he must be a joker,” Okogie said.
Before now, the news broke that Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was the campaign DG of the Buhari presidential campaign has been re-appointed to that role for the 2019 elections.
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