Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), said the party had not asked Women Affairs Minister, Sen. Aisha Alhassan, to resign over her recent comments in the media.

He also refuted the rumours speculating that her appearance at the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday, was on a summon.

The minister, who had been in the eye-of-the-storm over her comment on her choice of presidential aspirant for the 2019 election, had a closed-door meeting with the party’s leadership at the secretariat.

She had reportedly said that she would support former Vice President Atiku Abubakar if he showed interest in the 2019 presidential race, explaining that the man had been her “godfather”.

The comment drew criticism from APC stalwarts, who labelled it anti-Buhari and anti-party, saying she was disloyal and should resign or be sacked.

At the end of the “meeting’’, which lasted about two hours, Alhassan was said to have avoided media enquiry on her mission at the secretariat.

Abdullahi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the minister had just a meeting with leadership of the party, but “was not asked to resign her position as may be speculated’’.

‘’No, that did not come up, what we said was that we understood the context in which she said what she said.

‘’But, it was an act of indiscretion for someone occupying the position she is occupying in the party to make that kind of statement,’’ he explained.

But, a source close to APC leadership told NAN that leaders at the meeting expressed shock and bitterness over the minister’s comment.

According to the source, the minister was told that the party can no longer trust her.