President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with the outgoing Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko and the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, at the Presidential Villa.
The meeting comes amidst preparations for the governorship election that will hold in Ondo State on November 26.
Reporters were not allowed to cover the meeting held behind closed doors.
There are indications that discussions about the election may have been held, as Mr Lalong is the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign in Ondo State.
While the governorship election date draws near, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State is enmeshed in crisis over the party’s candidate for the election.
The party with two factions have put forward two candidates for the election – Eyitayo Jegede and Jimoh Ibrahim.
The electoral body had added the name of Mr Ibrahim to the list of candidates vying for the governorship seat, as the representative of the PDP, in obedience to court order.
But Mimiko is backing Mr Jegede, to emerge as his successor and he is battling in court to get the candidacy of Mr Ibrahim revoked. The court has, however, reserved judgment on his suit indefinitely.
After the meeting that lasted for about 30 minutes, Mr Mimiko told reporters that claims that he wanted to dump the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, a party President Buhari and Mr Lalong are members of, was false.
Mr Mimiko said he was at the villa to brief the President on the security situation in his state.
Few days ago, after Mr Mimiko received President Buhari who was in Ondo State for the campaign of the candidate of the APC, rumours spread that he was planning to defect to the APC since his preferred candidate could not make the list of candidates for the election.
But Mr Mimiko said the President was in his state to campaign for his party and that he 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 an APC member.
He decried insinuations that the gesture was a sign of plan to defect to the APC.
