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El-Rufai Reveals Why Buhari Didn’t Impose Candidate On Kaduna Delegates

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El-Rufai Confirms Proposal By Buhari To Extend Deadline For Old Naira Notes, Explains Why It Was Rejected
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Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna has revealed why President Muhammadu Buhari refused to impose his prefered candidate on the delegates from his state.

Recall that Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State had defeated 13 other contenders with a wide margin during the presidential primary to emerge as the APC flagbearer.

Tinubu polled 1,271 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who had 316 votes, while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came third in the primaries with 235 votes.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, El-Rufai said President Buhari refused to impose a candidate on the delegates because he is a democrat and not a dictator.

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The governor said Buhari told the delegates to vote their conscience and discharge their civic responsibilities, stressing that he has no anointed presidential candidate.

El-Rufai stated that the delegate votes were divided in his state and many other states. He disclosed that most of the Kaduna delegates voted for Tinubu, some voted for Amaechi and some voted for Osinbajo.

The governor said: “In many of our states, the delegate votes were divided.

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“Before I went to address the Kaduna delegates for the last time, I went to the President and I asked him, have you decided on who we should vote for? He said, I told you, go and vote for any of the five (candidates selected by APC Governors).

“I said, Mr President, the Kaduna delegates are your delegates, you are going to retire and live in Kaduna. So you can tell me who you want out of the five, and the President said ‘I want all five’.

“I said, what then should I tell Kaduna delegates. He said, tell them to vote their conscience; they are representing 10 million people in Kaduna state. It’s a heavy responsibility, and they should discharge it and pick the best candidate.

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“Now I don’t know how the Kaduna delegates voted, but the feedback I got after the voting is that most of them voted for Asiwaju, some voted for Amaechi and some voted for Professor Yemi Osinbajo.”