The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai has disclosed reasons his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, “excused himself” from a meeting of northern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with President Muhammadu Buhari.

While addressing newsmen, El-Rufai explained that 13 of the 19 APC governors from the North agreed that APC’s presidential ticket should be zoned to the South.

The Kaduna Governor, however, claimed Bello, who is also an APC presidential hopeful, decided not to attend the meeting.

The governor of Kogi State chose to excuse himself from the meeting with Mr. President, because he does not agree with our position.

There are 14 APC governors out of the 19 northern States. 13 of us are on one page on this subject and we all came to see the president.

But the governor of Kogi State excused himself, and he is within his democratic rights to excuse himself,” El-Rufai said.