Kogiflame
The Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai, has given details why the Kogi governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello walked out on APC northern governors meeting with Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.
He said this at a media briefing on Monday, June 7, 2022, after the governors concluded their meeting with Buhari.
el-Rufai said 13 of the 19 APC governors from the north agreed that the party’s presidential ticket be zoned to the south.
The Kaduna governor, however, said Bello, who is an APC presidential hopeful, decided not to attend the meeting.
In a video that surfaced online earlier, Bello is seen walking out of a building, while Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa governor, appears to be trying to calm him down, with Babagana Zulum, Borno governor, also coming out of the building shortly afterwards.
The video of the Kogi governor’s action surfaced shortly after the northern APC governors met with President Buhari on their decision to ask the APC to zone its presidential ticket to the south.
According to el-Rufai, the Kogi governor is against the decision of his colleagues on zoning the presidential ticket to the south.
“The governor of Kogi state chose to excuse himself from meeting with Mr. President because he believes that he does not agree with our position,” el-Rufai said.
“There are 14 APC governors out of the 19 northern states. Thirteen of us are on one page on this subject and we all came to see the president. But the governor of Kogi state excused himself, and it is within his democratic rights to excuse himself.”
Meanwhile, in his remarks, Atiku Bagudu, chairman of the progressive governors’ forum (PGF), said it will be in the interest of peace to zone the presidential ticket to the south.
