APC Governors are backing Buhari for re-election in 2019. The game is now officially on.

APC Govs have just told you that president will run in 2019
APC Governors are backing Buhari for re-election in 2019.  President Muhammadu Buhari meeting with governors from Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kogi and Yobe at the State House, Abuja  (Twitter/@NGRPresident )

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have thrown their weight behind another Buhari presidency in 2019.
During the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC on Tuesday, October 31, the Governors made it clear Buhari will get an automatic ticket if he only asks for one.

'If he wants the ticket, he'll get it'
“The future of this country as we are now, is associated with one person who is impeccable, who has the greatest amount of integrity that you can find in any human being around. So, your guess is as good as mine”, said Nasarawa State Governor Umar Tanko Al-Makura.

Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu was unequivocal in his submission. The 2019 APC presidential ticket, he says, is Buhari’s to lose.

I think for APC members, it is a democratic party, but the performance of the president in the last two years suggests that if he wants to contest, I will certainly support him and I know that our party members feel the same about him”, said Bagudu.

Concerning the issue of a sole ticket for Mr. Presdent, I want to say that if Mr. President is performing, well respected and carrying everyone along, all of us have resolved that we ‘ll work for him.

“Do we have any other person that will challenge the president again? Whatever you call it, as far as we are concerned, we have one president and that is the ticket we’ll fly”, said Lalong.
Motion
During the meeting, someone even moved an informal motion seeking to hand Buhari an automatic ticket in 2019, but the NEC (the second highest decision making body of the APC after the national convention) deferred the motion.

The president's aides and party members have also been trumpeting the administration's achievements at every opportunity--an indication that all pro-Buhari groups have been asked to keep their gaze on the ballot and ramp up the rhetoric.

The president has noticeably not ruled himself out of a re-election contest; even as the debate over whether he should run or not, continues to dominate the news cycle.