TheCable

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, says some governors and ministers are working to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari contests the presidential election in 2019.

El-Rufai said this on Friday when he paid a courtesy visit to the president in Aso Rock.

He said all “Buharists” in the All Progressives Congress (APC) will support whatever decision the president takes about the election.

“We have a group of Buharists among governors, ministers… Our group wants to ensure that President Buhari runs in 2019,” he said.

“If he chooses not to run, he will tell us which direction to go. We are Buharists, we don’t have any personal ambition, we don’t have any personal aspiration and we are waiting for him to decide.

“Our political ideology is to support whatever President Buhari wants to support, that has not changed.”

When asked if he could be a replacement for Buhari if the president chooses not to contest the 2019 election, el-Rufai said he was hopeful that Buhari would contest.

He said his name had been raised as a presidential aspirant many times but he never had such aspiration.

According to him, he only became a governor because Buhari called him to do so.

“I want to assure you whatever names you hear, Nasir El-Rufai is not an aspirant for the presidency neither any of the governors that are known to be Buharists as well as some of the ministers that are known from time,” he said.

“Look, my name has continuously been mentioned as a presidential aspirant s‎ince 2007 after my years in the FCT, there is nothing new about that.

“What I want to say here very, very clearly is that I have never been a presidential aspirant, I have never even been a gubernatorial aspirant. I am governor today by the grace of God because president Buhari called me and said go and run for governor of Kaduna state.

“As far as 2019 is concerned, my position is the president is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast. My hope and prayer is he will contest in 2019.”