Mama Taraba never supported President, says El-Rufai

Alhassan has been under intense scrutiny this week after she publicly supported former Vice President as the future president of the country in 2019.

While many people have criticised her public stance and called for her to be sacked, she doubled down on her comments in an interview with BBC Hausa, stating that she would support Atiku over President Buhari if both men contest in the presidential election in two years time.

While speaking to State House correspondents after meeting President Buhari in Aso Rock on Friday, September 8, 2017, Governor El-Rufai said he was unsurprised by her actions because she has never supported the president's ideology.

He told correspondents, "Her comments are not surprising, she has never been a supporter, she has never believed in Buhari ideology. So, I am not surprised. As a Nigerian, as an individual she has every right to express her views and support whoever she wants.

"What I am saying is Nigerians should not be surprised or shocked. This has always been her position because from time. She has never supported Buharism or what Buhari stands for.

"Being part of Buhari government is a different thing because government sets policies and if you are a minister you execute the policies. You can execute those policies while pursuing a different brand of politics."

The governor disclosed that the minister was not in the president's camp during the presidential primary election of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) which the president won before he was elected as commander in chief in 2015.

He said, "In the APC, she was never in the Buhari camp, she did not support our candidates during the National Convention, she didn't vote for Buhari during the Primaries."

The governor also said the president turned deaf ears to the reservations expressed by party members when Mrs. Alhassan was nominated for the ministerial appointment.

According to him, "Even though she was never a supporter of his politics or what he believes in, his ideology, he still believed that to encourage women in politics, what she has tried to do in Taraba earned her being nominated as a Minister.

"Many in Buhari camp did not support it but he overrode everybody because he tries to consider every Nigerian his own son or daughter."

The governor said the fate of the former gubernatorial candidate from Taraba state solely rests on the discretion of President Buhari.

He said, "It is the President's prerogative. Look, you can retain a person in the cabinet even if he doesn't support you but adds value to the country. Because this is a government, it is not a political group fighting for some political progress.

"If Jummai Alhassan is coming as Minister of Women Affairs and adding value to the government and the people of Nigeria, it is the President's prerogative to retain her in spite of her political views.

"But if she is not adding value in spite of her political views she can be dispensed with. People shouldn't get worried about it.

"I have worked closely with the President, I know him and I know how he thinks. He doesn't take these things personally. What is primary to him is Nigeria's progress."

While the under fire minister showed up at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, September 7, she was unable to meet the president or his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.