Danjuma Goje, a Nigerian senator
(APC-Gombe Central), on Thursday explained why he decided to step down his
ambition for Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe) in the race for the Senate presidency in
the ninth Assembly.
Mr Goje, who thanked his
supporters and associates across the country, spoke with reporters after a
meeting he had with Mr Lawan, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, and President
Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
He said that, as an elder
statesman in the Senate for a long time, he should be able to appreciate
leadership coming from the party elders.
Mr Goje said in spite of the
calls from his supporters, he had, because of his loyalty to the president and
for the interest of the party, decided to step down from the race.
“Instead, I am supporting the
party’s position thereby endorsing the candidature of Sen. Lawan.
“I am not compelled to step down;
I have been winning my elections many times from local government to House of
Assembly to National Assembly to governorship and I was also a minister.
“To say that I have been
threatened to support somebody, no. I am supporting Lawan based on my own
conviction that I am doing the right thing for our country, for our president,’’
he said.
Speaking, Mr Lawan thanked Messrs
Buhari, El-Rufai and Goje for the making the agreement possible.
He said the endorsement by Mr
Goje was going to bring so much unity in the APC and indeed in the entire
Senate in a bi-partisan fashion.
“I believe that is the way to go,
we want to go to the ninth Senate focused and united right from onset,
kickstart our activities which is very important at this time.
“The country needs a Senate that
is focused and united for optimum performance and I believe that the
senators-elect will be happy to hear that this has been achieved.
“I want to thank Senator Goje, he
is very experienced politician like he has said; he has been in this business
much longer and than most of us really.
“ I respect him; even when there
were so many clamours for him to run for the position of the president of the
senate, he never came out to publicly to declare.
Elated El-Rufai
Meanwhile, Governor El-Rufai
applauded Mr Goje for stepping down for Mr Lawan in the race.
Mr El-Rufai, spoke with State
House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after himself, Messrs
Lawan, Goje and Senator-elect, Uba Sani (APC-Kaduna Central) emerged from the
closed-door meeting with President Buhari on Thursday.
He said Mr Goje had withdrawn
from the race for Senate Presidency and endorsed the candidacy of Mr Lawan, who
was the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We discussed steps to unify our
leadership in the National Assembly starting with the Senate.
“I am very pleased to announce
that distinguished Sen. Goje has agreed to fully endorse and support the choice
of the party and that of the President within the Senate; that is Sen. Lawan.
“We are very grateful to Goje for
his sacrifice, patience; this discussion has been going on for a long time and
I am honoured to be part of it and I am grateful to him for recognising the
many years we have worked together when he was minister.
“I know him to be a man of
impeccable integrity and a man of his word and I am very honoured that he has
come to see the president and to conclude this matter once and for all,’’ he
said.
(NAN)
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