El-Rufai: Buhari Has Never Used ‘Federal Might To Steal Election’
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has described President Muhammadu Buhari as an advocate of free and fair elections.
El-Rufai said unlike Buhari’s predecessors who allegedly used ‘federal might’ to ‘steal elections,’ the president would rather sit back and watch voters choose their leaders without interference.
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The Kaduna State governor was reacting to the defeat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Edo governorship election that was held on Saturday, September 19.
El-Rufai spoke during his appearance on Channels TV’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Monday.
The governor said he could not fathom how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) managed to win the election, because the APC was poised to win based on their permutations three weeks ago.
He said, “We would have loved to win…Quite frankly I was optimistic. Up to three weeks ago, the polls indicated that we were going to win. I don’t know what happened in the last two, three weeks of the campaign.
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“As you know, a large number of voters make up their minds in the last two weeks of election. Many voters decide, no matter what happens, this is how I am voting. But most people want to wait and watch and make up their minds in the last two weeks.
“Three weeks ago, the polls clearly showed that APC was going to win, but the results came out differently from what we expected.”
El-Rufai commended President Buhari for creating a level playing field, as well as the voters and security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
“The election was reasonably decent. We were all worried about violence; there was very little violence or none at all. So Obaseki has won, that’s it. You can’t go into an election without preparing your mind for the possibility of losing.
“And one thing President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has always done is to say that there must be free and fair election and the people’s choice must prevail.
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“And the President has never used what is called Federal Might that other governments have used in the past to steal elections. We always insist that everyone should go and pitch to the people and may the best man win. And we can live with it,” he said.
