- The political discourse around the 2019 presidential election is gaining grounds gradually
- Talks of an automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been circulating
- The senator representing Kaduna central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, is one of those opposed to the idea
The senator representing Kaduna central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has said President Muhammadu Buhari would not get an automatic ticket for 2019 in the APC.
Senator Sani made the statement while delivering a lecture in Osogbo, the Osun state capital on Friday, November 24, The Cable reports.
The human rights activist turned politician, said some governors who endorsed the president for a second tenure are only after their selfish interests.
Senator Sani warned the president to be wary of sycophants surrounding him. Photo credit: Aso Rock
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His words: “Those endorsing the president for second term are doing it for selfish gain.
“Some of the governors that endorsed him for the second term are doing it to get a second term and those of them already on second term are doing it to evade probe when they leave office.
“That’s why I stand with Senator Bola Tinubu on his position that there would be no automatic ticket for President Buhari.
“Interested aspirants should be allowed to show interest and there should be level playing field for all of them to compete for the ticket of the party.”
Senator Sani stated that Buhari is surrounded by sycophants in the guise of party loyalists, stressing that some of them were already planning on becoming the vice president when the president was sick.
He said although the president has a genuine intention to fight corruption, most of those around him are corrupt but pretend they are not, adding that some of them have amassed enormous wealth through illegal means.
“When the president was on health vacation, the mosque in the villa was left for the ‘maigaurds’ and other staff of the villa but when Buhari came back, the mosque became a regular Friday show center.
“When Buhari was on heath vacation, some people were scheming to become the vice president because they thought it would be like the case of late President Umaru Yar’Adua but when the president returned alive, they started declaring endorsement for him to serve a second term,” he added.
On Wednesday, November 22, APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu told journalists that the party will follow due democratic process in selecting its presidential candidate for the 2019 elections.
Tinubu made the statement shortly after his meeting with leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, the Afenifere, at the residence of the leader of the organisation, Pa. Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, Ondo state.
Tinubu also said the APC had not endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari as its sole candidate for 2019.
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Source: Naija.ng