Shehu Sani: Buhari chides El-Rufai for breaching party decision

President Muhammadu Buhari has disowned a letter in circulation, which alleged that he authorised Gov. Nasir el-Rufai to “deal with traitors and disloyal members of APC, especially Senator Shehu Sani.

Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

According to the presidential aide, the president is not aware of any such letter, let alone authorising anyone to deal with any party member.

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“The presidency wishes to distance President Muhammadu Buhari from a letter currently in circulation, which alleges that the President had authorised a governor or anyone else for that matter to deal with traitors and disloyal members of APC, especially Senator Shehu Sani.

“We wish to confirm that the president is not aware of any such letter, let alone authorising anyone to deal with any party member.

“Given President Buhari’s record, it is inconceivable that he would usurp the role of the party leaders and instruct anyone to punish a party member.

“In the light of above, we would like to appeal to the general public, especially members of the press, to ignore false or unauthorised information intended to attribute to the president any action which is not in line with his character.’’

Gov. El-Rufai of Kaduna State had last week visited the Presidential Villa twice over political developments in his state.

El-Rufai, who vehemently opposed the decision of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to clear Sen. Shehu Sani as the sole candidate in the race for APC-Kaduna Central, said the fate of the senator “lies in the hands of the party delegates in the state”.

The national body of the APC on Sunday reiterated that Sani remains the party’s senatorial candidate for Kaduna Central.

The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Yekini Nabena, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The party’s stance means the senatorial primary conducted by the Kaduna APC chapter for Kaduna Central, along with other constituencies, on Saturday, was a futile exercise.

According to the result of the primary, Uba Sani, special adviser to El-Rufai won the nomination to contest the election for the central zone in February election.

Shehu Sani boycotted the election.