Like Buhari, Groups Buy Guber Form For El-Rufai

Reminiscent of how a group bought the N45 million All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential nomination form for President Muhammadu Buhari, five groups have come together to buy the governorship form of the party for Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state.

The groups led by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), include Petroleum Tanker Drivers, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Traders of Sheikh Mahmud Gummi Market and Katsina and Daura People’s Association living in Kaduna.

The governor, who expressed surprise at the development said the gesture came at the right time because he could not have afforded the nomination fees set by the party.

“I don’t have N20m also to buy my form. The money I have in the bank is not close to that amount. I have only one account in GT Bank. Except I sell my house I will not be able to raise that that amount,” El-Rufai told the delegation at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna on Monday.

The governor who said he was surprised at the gesture, described it as “the most pleasant surprise of my life.”

He told the delegation he had accepted the nomination form in good faith and would re-double his efforts in improving the lives of the citizens of the state and assured them that he would continue to ensure that whoever is living in the state irrespective of his religious and tribal inclinations gets justice.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Alh Abbas Likoro, said that they were in Government House to plead with him to re-contest.

Likoro said his group decided to purchase his party’s nomination form because they have seen in him a leader who had done well since his assumption in office and deserved a second term.