The interview granted the press by The Minister of women Affairs , Madam Aisha Alhassan ,where she expressed her resolve to throw her weight behind the candidacy of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against her principal, Muhammadu Buhari, in the 2019 general election has continue to generate
heated controversy withing the rank and file of the All progressive congress , APC.
The Minister of women Affairs had in the course of a media chat after the Sallah break spurned the President of Nigeria , Muhammadu Buhari, stressing that if she has to chose between Atiku and Buhari in the next general election, the former will not only have her vote but her overwhelming support as a Taraba politician. Going further, Alhassan retorted that Buhari made it clear in 2015 that he would run for just a single term.
There is no gainsaying the fact that her sudden outburst has rattled the ruling party. In his reaction, Senator Sheu Sanni congratulated her for her bravery and her daring to express her support for Atiku, while serving in Buhari’s government, claiming that hers was better expressed than cowards in Buhari’s government whose loyalty and support lie elsewhere. However, Sanni told Alhassan that having said her loyalty does not lie with Buhari, it will be morally and ethically wrong for her to continue to serve under the administration that no longer enjoys her loyalty .He advised the minister to urgently send in her papers and quit the
Buhari administration to avoid conflict of interest between her work and her loyalty, stressing that having expressed her strong opinion on the candidacy of Buhari for the
the next general election ,it behoves her to simply resign so as to begin to work in earnest for the victory of her preferred candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Expressing his view on the Minister of Women Affairs’ opinion , Kaduna state Governor, Mallam El Rufai said Alhassan’s opinion was not unexpected, though quite unfortunate. He said Alhassan has always been Atiku loyalist , hence what she had said was normal. He also noted that Buhari was told of the profile of Aisha Alhassan as a pro Atiku before her appointment into the Buhari cabinet, but the former believes in performance , hence Alhassan’s appointment as a cabinet minister regardless of her avowed support for Buhari.
When asked if he thought Buhari would sack her over her outburst, El Rufai said that would be the exclusive decision of the President , stressing that since Alhassan has expressed her preference, she shouldn’t wait to be sacked before she humbly bows out.
Meanwhile, disturbed by the reaction of the minister to the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari come the 2019 general election, the national working committee of All Progressive Congress has fixed the coming Monday to take a position on the matter.
