Garba Shehu, the spokesperson of former President Muhammadu Buhari, has opened up on the reason his principal failed to attend the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
Naija News reports that the APC held its National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
However, Buhari and the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, were conspicuously absent.
The meeting was presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and was attended by prominent leaders of the APC, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, governors, the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and many other stakeholders.
Speaking on the reason Buhari was absent, Shehu told BBC Hausa that Buhari was invited to the meeting late.
He said, “President Muhammadu Buhari is not a caucus member of the party. He was supposed to attend the NEC meeting, but unfortunately the invitation to the meeting was forwarded to him on Monday and it reached him on Tuesday. For this, he could not leave Daura for Abuja even if he owns a private jet.”
Shehu added that even though the former president was absent from the meeting physically, his spirit was with the attendees.
He added, “Buhari is a founding member of the APC. He was nominated by the party for president twice. He is a member of the APC even though he did not attend the meeting.”
