President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday separately met behind closed doors with the outgoing Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko and the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, The Nation reports.
Lalong is the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign in Ondo State.
The President was in Ondo State at the weekend to campaign for the APC candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu.
While the Ondo Governorship election takes place on Saturday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is enmeshed in crisis over the party’s candidate for the election.
Mimiko is backing one of the PDP aspirants, Eyitayo Jegede, to emerge as his successor.
The meeting between the President and Governor Mimiko lasted about 30 minutes.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Mimiko denied the allegation that he was planning to dump the PDP for APC.
The governor said he was in the Villa to brief the President on the security situation in his state.
On why he was frequently visiting the President, he said: “What is frequent. This is my second visit to the villa since this crisis in our party started. Like I said, as the chief security officer of my state, if there is any credible threat to security, I owe the responsibility to Nigerians to apprise Mr. President of what is going on in the state.
“Mr. President was in my state to campaign for his party. I extended to him the courtesy of receiving him at the airport and seeing him off as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not as APC.
“I understand that people have speculated that this means I am going to APC. There is nothing of such. I only extended him normal courtesy that protocols demand. As a governor and chief security officer of the state, if the President is visiting, no matter the party he belongs, it is only appropriate for me to extend the courtesy to him. That was what I did in Akure.
“And I have also come to brief him about the security situation in my state.”
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