Aisha Alhassan apologises to APC for Endorsing Atiku

Minister of Women Affairs Jummai Alhassan

The Minister for Women Affairs Aisha Alhassan has according to the All Progressives Congress (APC) apologised for publicly endorsing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 Presidency.

According to Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s spokesman, she apologised for her ill-timed statement, and for putting the party in a difficult position.

Abdullahi explained that while the minister is entitled to her opinions, it was too early to begin endorsing anyone.

Atiku has not said he will be contesting for the 2019 presidency, Abdullahi said, and he hasn’t gotten the party’s form.

He 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.

Atiku 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?

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.