{"id":3698,"date":"2017-11-24T17:25:31","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T00:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/?p=3698"},"modified":"2017-11-24T17:48:53","modified_gmt":"2017-11-25T00:48:53","slug":"el-rufai-atiku-departure-apc-good-us-youre-no-threat-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/el-rufai-atiku-departure-apc-good-us-youre-no-threat-buhari\/","title":{"rendered":"El-Rufai to Atiku: \u201cYour EXIT is good for APC. You’re no threat to Buhari\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Kaduna<\/p>\n

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Story Highlights: \u00a0\u201cNo APC governor is leaving the party with Atiku\u201d \u2013 El-Rufai<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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See details of what El-Rufai said about Atiku\u2019s defection from APC (FULL DETAILS)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday reacted to the exit of former vice president Atiku Abubakar from Nigeria\u2019s ruling party, APC.<\/p>\n

Mr. El-Rufai, a leader of the APC, spoke after the Friday Jumat prayer at the mosque in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.<\/p>\n

Mr. Abubakar on Friday announced that he was leaving the APC. He did not say the party he was going to join, although he is expected to run for president on the platform of the opposition PDP.<\/p>\n

The former vice president and Mr. El-Rufai have in the past had a public spat over issues of corruption and loyalty.<\/p>\n

While answering reporter\u2019s questions on Friday, Mr. El-Rufai said Mr. Abubakar was not driven out of the APC.
\nRead the full details of questions asked Mr. El-Rufai and his answers below.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you feel that Atiku has left the party that you are in together?<\/p>\n

El-Rufai: Well, I won\u2019t even say we were in the APC together. Some of us formed the APC, some of them joined because they thought that the APC was a platform for which they will contest election but when they didn\u2019t get the opportunity they started looking around.<\/p>\n

I have heard about what the former Vice President said about leaving the APC. We knew he was going to leave in December but he has left in November which is good because the earlier he leaves for where he belongs, the better. He has changed political parties a few times, there is nothing surprising. Before the 2019 elections if situation changes and he thinks he can get the ticket in 2019 he will come back. That is what he has done a few times.<\/p>\n

Q: Some are saying you people have driven him out of the party?<\/p>\n

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El-Rufai: No one has driven him out of the party, the APC is an equal opportunity platform for everyone. He has in his statement of leaving the party made reference to the memo I wrote to Mr. President in September 2016, where I was calling on the President to reach out to party leaders that feel aggrieved and I mentioned him, the Asiwaju and many others. The others are still in the APC because they believe in the direction of the party, they believe we have come to save the country from a very bad situation. But the former Vice President is always looking for an opportunity to contest. He is a serial contestant and we wish him luck.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Q: Some Nigerians are saying that some members of your party loyal to him might go with him. How do you react?<\/p>\n

El-Rufai: I don\u2019t know about the loyalists in the APC that will go with him but I want to assure you that there is no one governor in the APC that is going to go with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The only governor that he would think will go with him, the governor of Adamawa State has already endorsed President Buhari for the 2019 elections. And there are many governors I will not mention the number but a majority of the APC governors have already taken the position that the president should run for a second term in office. And we are grateful to the Almighty God that the question marks about his health have been put to rest, he is getting better every day and we are confident that the way to preserve our party and preserve and advance the interest of Nigeria is for Mr. President to run for a second term. I\u2019m curious to see which APC governor will go with Atiku. As for party loyalists it depends on what you defend as loyalists. We will wait and see how that evolves.<\/p>\n