The recent outburst from the Minister of Women Affairs and
Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, has been traced to her still
fuming over her losing Taraba state governorship election The Daily Times
authoritatively gathered that Alhassan, fondly called Mama Taraba, is said to
be withdrawing her support for Buhari because of his refusal to influence the
outcome of the 2015 election disputes and install her as Taraba State governor.
The minister was quoted as saying in a video which went
viral on Wednesday, that, “I will support Atiku for the 2019 election even if
Baba is contesting. Atiku is my godfather even before I joined politics, and
again, Baba Buhari did not tell us that he is going to run in 2019.” Sources close
to the Presidency also revealed that despite Buhari’s good intentions, it is
unfortunate that his cabinet members have different agenda towards 2019 except
the Vice- President Yemi Osinbajo, who is not a politician and who has remained
loyal and committed.
The Daily Times further gathered that it is out of this
disloyalty that led to the outburst of the serving minister who is supposed to
help actualise the mandate of this administration. In some Northern states
including the Federal Capital Territory, Buhari’s second tenure posters are
pasted but his body language has not made the terrain clearer. But Atiku’s
intention for the presidency is growing as the days go by just as his
reservation and criticism for the ruling APC in which he is a chieftain is mind
bugling.
In an interview aired Wednesday morning programme of the
Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA), Atiku said he had been sidelined
despite the fact that he used his contacts and resources to defeat the then
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015. This shot came the same day
Alhassan pledged her complete loyalty to him. Atiku reportedly said: “Honestly
speaking, I am still a member of the APC; I was part of all the processes,
including campaigns until success was achieved, but sadly, soon after the
formation of the government, I was sidelined. I have no relationship with the
government, I have not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in
turn, I maintained my distance.
They used our money and influence to get to where they are,
but three years down the lane, this is where we are”. But reacting to
Alhassan’s utterances, a chieftain of the ruling APC and the party’s 2015
Senatorial candidate in Bayelsa State, Hon. Preye Aganaba, said the party has
no choice for now than to represent Buhari to Nigerians for the 2019 general
election. Commenting on Alhassan’s loyalty to Atiku, Aganaba said: “She has a
right to her choice but I think she is not been fair. If she wants to make such
public statement as a serving Minister, she should resign her appointment
first.
“I don’t think for now that the APC has any other choice
than to represent Buhari, though people are free to contest, nobody is stopping
them, this is APC where we usually have free and fair primaries. At the last
Presidential primaries in Lagos, President Buhari won more than half of the
votes. “During the last APC presidential primaries, the campaign slogan for
Buhari was ’12 million assured votes’ and I don’t think one single vote has
left that 12 million assured votes. In fact, more has even been added”.
Meanwhile, Alhassan on Thursday in Abuja, said that she does not think Buhari
is a naïve person.
Speaking with State House correspondents after her visit to
Aso Rock with the hope to meet with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba
Kyari, Alhassan said she had not seen the president since she made the famous
comment. She said, “I have not seen the president but I don’t think he is a
naive person”. When asked about her sudden withdrawal of support for Buhari,
she said: “I have said all in BBC Hausa, get someone who speaks Hausa very well
to translate it for you; let the will of God be done”.
A constitutional lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, who spoke during
an interview monitored from Channels Television programme of Politics Today on
Thursday, said anyone whose allegiance is not to the president has no business
being in the cabinet, saying that the options open to such an individual is
either to resign or be sacked. He said people are only thinking about their
political ambitions and how to get power rather than serving the people, noting
that most of the cabinet members have allegiance to their sponsors and not
Buhari. But the APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, has said that the
race for 2019 is a decision that only Buhari could make, saying that, “The
president is focused on building the country and restoring its lost glory”.
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