Cracks appear to be widening on the walls of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over its presidential standard-bearer, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Daily Trust reports.
Barely a week after he raised the alarm over an alleged plot to sabotage him in the forthcoming election, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and staunch supporter of Tinubu on Wednesday re-echoed a similar position, saying elements within the presidency were working against the presidential ambition of the former Lagos State governor.
Daily Trust recalled that while addressing a campaign rally at the Moshood Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta, Ogun State, recently, Tinubu alleged that some interests were against the elections as scheduled.
He specifically said the scarcity of fuel being experienced across the country and the redesign of the naira, the Nigerian currency, were part of the plot to sabotage him at the polls.
But he assured his supporters, who attended the rally, that neither the elections nor his victory can be stopped.
Aside from lingering fuel scarcity, Tinubu was referring to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which had on October 26, 2022, announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes.
Buhari subsequently unveiled the notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed the January 31 deadline for their validity.
As the January 31 deadline approached, many Nigerians have been lamenting the scarcity of the new notes while the National Assembly demanded a six months extension.
However, emerging from a meeting with the president on Sunday, the apex bank boss said Buhari gave permission for the deadline to be extended to February 10.
Mixed reactions had trailed Tinubu’s comments, even as the presidential campaign organisation of the PDP candidate had berated the APC candidate of trying to blackmail President Buhari and blame the APC-led federal government over his “looming rejection by Nigerians.”
El-Rufai’s bombshell
Just as the dust raised by the Tinubu comment was about to settle, Governor Nasir El-Rufai yesterday stirred the hornet’s nest when he declared that elements in the Presidency were working against Tinubu’s candidature.
El-Rufai, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, said those people backed a different aspirant in the APC presidential primaries but the aspirant did not win the ticket. According to him, people are now hiding behind President Buhari to pursue their interests.
“I believe there are elements in the villa who want us to lose the election because they didn’t get their way; they had their candidate. Their candidate did not win the primaries.
“They are trying to get us to lose the election, and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right,” he said.
Aisha, wife of the president yesterday backed El-Rufa’i over his claim that some elements in the presidency are plotting to sabotage Tinubu’s victory.
The first lady, who wields great influence in the Villa, voiced her support for El-Rufai when she shared a clip of the interview containing the governor’s main allegation against the saboteurs who are non-members of the party and are exploiting the president’s goodwill for their selfish ends.
