The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Alhassan Wednesday, downplayed criticism that she was disloyal to President Buhari by visiting Atiku Abubakar.

Mrs Alhassan, in a telephone interview with NAN, said that her Sallah homage to Abubakar did not amount to disloyalty to Buhari.

Highlights:

Abubakar remained her political mentor over the years and was still a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that her loyalty to Buhari and his administration, which she serves as a minister, was “unshakable”.

The minister accused her “political detractors” of “amplifying and misinterpreting” the visit so as to smear her image because they were afraid of her growing political strength in Taraba.

“Besides, neither Buhari nor Abubakar has officially told anyone of an interest in seeking election in 2019,” she said.

Declaring that power comes from God, she said that if she loses her job because of her visit, she would consider it as the will of God.

She urged Nigerians to support the policies and programmes of the Buhari administration because it was time for governance and not yet time for politicking.