Six of the seven governors
in the North-West were absent at a meeting held in Katsina, the Katsina State
capital, on Sunday by the leadership of
the All Progressives Congress in the geopolitical zone to appraise the party
performance.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari
of Katsina State was the only governor who turned up at the meeting, which was
held under the chairmanship of the APC National Vice-Chairman for the
North-West, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir.
Absent at the meeting were
governors of Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.
It was, however, learnt
that the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Danguje, had visited Masari on Saturday
to excuse himself from the meeting.
On why the other governors
were absent, the organisers of the event explained that the meeting was not
actually meant for them.
The source, who pleaded
anonymity, explained that “the meeting is for all the states leadership of the
APC in the geopolitical zone to assess the performance of our governors in the
seven states of the North-West.”
But when reminded that the
Kano State Governor had visited Masari on Saturday to excuse himself from the
meeting, the source said, the visit could be for another purpose.
It was, however, learnt
that the governors’ decision to shun the meeting could be due to the crisis in
the North-West.
The APC officials from the
seven states were, however, in attendance at the meeting which commenced few
minutes after 11am and retired to a closed session an hour later. The meeting
was still on as of the time of filing this report.
Aside Masari, other party
chieftains in attendance included Lt. Col. Abdul-Azeez Musa Yardua (retd.);
Senator Abba Alli, Alhaji Dairu Manga, the Katsina State Deputy Governor, Manir
Yakubu, Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa; and
Hajia Hadiza Bala-Usman (Nigeria Ports Authority Managing Director),among
others.
Masari told the gathering
that Katsina State “is 100 per cent behind President Muhammadu Buhari,”
insisting that all political office holders in the state, including all
National Assembly and state Assembly members as well as the business community
were in full support of Buhari.
He said, “Our support, our
loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari in Katsina State is 100 per cent; be it
in the state assembly; be it in the National Assembly; be it in the business
community, we are 100 per cent loyal to President Buhari.”
The governor, who agreed
that things might currently be challenging in Nigeria, urged all patriotic
Nigerians to exercise patience with the government “as President Buhari tackles
the various challenges confronting the nation.”
He added, “The rot we met
on the ground was enormous. The transition from bad to good is always
difficult. I urge patriotic Nigerians to be patience with President Buhari.”
Abdulkadir had earlier in
his address told the gathering that the meeting was imperative to assess the
party performance in the North-West states, with a view to restrategising as
the APC regime approaches its mid-term.
He urged party members to
put the party interest above theirs to ensure that more people enjoy the
party’s programmes.
The meeting later retired
into a closed affair and it was still on as of the time of filing this report.
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