Delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna state have expressed their support for the presidential bid of Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation.
Amaechi’s visit to the state comes two days after the Kaduna delegates had enthusiastically assured Bola Tinubu, another APC presidential hopeful, of their allegiance.
The transportation minister met with the delegates for a consultative meeting on Sunday.
Speaking at the event, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, addressed the delegates about their preferred presidential candidate.
The governor said the delegates made the choice to support Tinubu without listening to the other contenders.
“I told you when you made that pledge to Asiwaju that others may not come, because of what you have done. You made that choice without listening to anyone else. Today you have seen the difference,” el-Rufai said.
“You’ve heard Amaechi, you’ve seen what he has done. And he has brought a very strong security team. So you know what will happen with our security if he is in charge.
“So I want to ask you two questions. Are we in Kaduna state APC committed, as a matter of fairness and justice, to the presidency of Nigeria going to the south?
The governor repeated the question multiple times and the delegates responded with “yes” each time.
Continuing, he said: “Now the second thing. You’ve seen Governor Amaechi. You’ve heard his history, you’ve listened to his pitch. What are you going to do? Who are you supporting now?”
In response, most of the delegates chanted “Dan Amanar” — Amaechi’s traditional title from Daura, Katsina state — while some retorted with “your choice”.
To clarify their stance, the governor asked again “are you supporting Dan Amanar” and the majority responded with a chorused “yes”.
Reacting, the governor said: “I thought you said you were supporting Asiwaju [Tinubu]. You know, people say that delegates will never see heaven. Because today you say something, tomorrow you do another thing.
“You are the delegates. I have only one vote. You are the leaders of the party in Kaduna. Whatever you decide is what we will do.
“You have a huge mandate on you and you must choose what is best for Kaduna and Nigeria.”
Speaking on behalf of the delegates, Yusuf Zailani, speaker of the state house of assembly, said the Kaduna delegates have reached the conclusion to give all their votes to Amaechi.
The Cable