Atiku’s 2019 Endorsement: Alhassan Tenders Apology To APC

Women Affairs Minister, Aisha Alhassan has tendered an apology to the All Progressives Congress (APC) over her controversial disapproval of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 presidential bid.

The WHISTLER reported on Thursday that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC interrogated the minster for putting the party in what it described as a “difficult situation”.

Alhassan had received mixed reactions for publicly endorsing former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in advance of the 2019 presidential election.

But after yesterday’s meeting with the APC NWC, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, revealed that the minister tendered an apology for her action.

Abdullahi said: “When she came, we asked her to explain to us what truly transpired and in what context she said what she said and she did offer the explanation.

“Now, having offered her explanation, we acknowledged that as a member of this party, she is entitled to her opinion and she is entitled to her choice.

“However, as a senior member of this party, her statement represents an act of indiscretion because with the kind of position she occupies within the party, she is a party leader in her own right, what she said was not what she was supposed to say at the time that she said it.

“If this was 2018 and the people have filed their applications to say they are contesting and she now comes out and says she is supporting this person, how can that be an issue? But we are still in 2017. We are still far away.

“(Former Vice President) Atiku (Abubakar) has not said he is contesting. He has not collected any form. He has not announced to anybody that he is contesting. So, that is what we mean by the timing.

“I want you to take note of the fact that nobody is questioning her right to take the position she has taken. We have not come out to say, ‘why are you saying you are supporting this person?

“(But) she ought to have exercised greater judgement than she did and she acknowledged that yes, maybe she ought not to have. Maybe the timing was wrong and she apologised if she had put the party in any difficult position.”