President Muhammadu Buhari has clarified the controversy that trailed his speech at presidential rally in Owerri, Imo state capital.
In a statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said he is for all candidates of the All Progressives Congress but he’s sensitive of the support of people from other parties who were at the venue.
He said, “The massive crowd that gathered to welcome President Buhari in Imo State was made up of not only supporters of the APC in the state, but also supporters of other parties who are united by their love for the President and their desire to see him re-elected, despite the local candidates they support,” Shehu said.
He explained that President Buhari’s consciousness of this obviously-mixed crowd was the reason why he did not speak only about support for the APC during the campaign, but also encouraged the people to vote according to their consciences. According to the presidential spokesman,
“While President Buhari is fully behind APC, he welcomes endorsements from those who do not belong to the ruling party but is also sensitive to their support for non-APC candidates at the local level. It would have been insensitive of him to offend his non-APC supporters by ignoring their local affiliations.”
Shehu noted President Buhari’s open endorsement of Hope Uzodinma, the APC gubernatorial candidate in Imo State, whose hand the President raised high before the crowd at the campaign rally.
“President Buhari is for the APC in every state and there is no doubt about that, despite his immense cross-party support,” he said
