The seven Northern governors who went into a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari after observing Juma’at prayers with him at the State House mosque today have declared their reason for visiting the president.
All the seven governors were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governors Nasir El-rufai (Kaduna State), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe) and Abubakar Bello (Niger) visited the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja and held a two-hour meeting with him.
Speaking with State House correspondents, Governor el-Rufai of Kaduna said the governors visited the president to convince him to run for second term.
He added that the president should seek re-election to continue the good work he is doing in the nation.
El-Rufai said, ‘We are politicians, and those of us you see here want the president to contest the 2019 election. We have no apologies for that.
“We believe in Mr. President, and we want him to continue running the country in the right direction. People can speculate about 2019, we have no apologies.
“Whether they are right or wrong is besides the point. Everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but as governors, and most of us here, with the exception of Yobe governor, are first-time governors. We are interested in the continuity and stability and we want the president to continue with that.
“Like our leader, the governor of Kano said, we just happen to be here by coincidence, and we went to pray and decided to felicitate with the president and we feel satisfied that anytime we see him, he is getting better and better.”
Kano governor, Umar Ganduje had earlier said that running into the president at the mosque was entirely coincidental.