Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said on Friday that nobody could stop him from visiting the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The governor, who denied having a rift with Buhari, stated that some president's men did not like him.

He was addressing State House reporters after observing Juma’at with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Villa mosque. They both met briefly at the president’s residence after the prayer.

This was the first time El-Rufai would be sighted at the Presidential Villa since Buhari returned from his recent medical vacation in London on March 10.

He noted that he had unfettered access to Aso Rock, saying he just believed that those who love Buhari should keep away from the Villa and allow the president to rest.

El-Rufai had, in a memo to Buhari last September, suggested a surgical operation on the entire gamut of government so that the All Progressives Congress would not leave Nigeria worse than it met her. In the memo, he accused Buhari’s Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal of constituting a clog in the wheel of the progress of Buhari’s government.

The governor had also, in the memo, explained that his warning was necessary as his political future was “uncannily” tied to President Buhari’s.

While responding to a question on whether some ‘powerful’ forces stopped him from visiting the Villa, El-Rufai exclaimed: “No! No one ever stopped me from coming to the Villa, and no one can stop me from coming to the Villa. As a governor, I come here, I’ve blank cheques, no one checks me at the gate, but I believe what the president needs is for those that love him to keep away from him and allow him to rest.

“The president needs quality time to rest because it’s meeting too many people that strains leadership. I’m a governor and I know that when I meet 10 people in a day, I get really tired, it’s not the paperwork, it’s not really the memos approving them or asking questions that strains a leader, it’s the stream of visitors. I do not want to contribute to the president’s problem by coming here everyday. I’m in touch with him, I know everything going on and I do not think I should add to his burden.” (Daily Trust)

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