APC govs endorse Buhari for second term, say ‘he must go ahead with his vision’

The 24 governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) on Tuesday announced their endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidature for the 2019 presidential election.

Rochas Okorocha, Imo state governor, made the position of the governors known to state house correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the president at the presidential villa, Abuja.

The president had at the last APC national executive committee meeting declared his intention to run for second term in 2019.

Okorocha told the correspondents that they communicated their support for the president’s re-election bid at the meeting.

“We came to welcome him back and to commend him for his boldness and courage to declare his intention to run for second term as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which we the 24 governors of the APC duly support,” he said.

“And we have come to encourage him that he must go ahead with his vision to rescue Nigeria from its present challenges.”

According to him, the meeting also addressed the issue of the forthcoming convention and congresses in order to make it hitch-free.

He said the president and governors had resolved to produce a strong party chairman that could deliver tangible results for the party in the forthcoming general election.

He added that “we also agreed that we will not allow the issue of many contestants to destroy our party.”.

The governor, who is also the chairman of APC Governors’ Forum, dismissed the assertion that the meeting was convened to endorse Adams Oshiomole, former Edo governor, as next APC national chairman.

He, however, disclosed that the governors would soon make their stance known on the subject matter, adding that the “public will be duly briefed in due course”.