In an unprecedented interview on Channels Television, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai had thrown darts at President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that those who had wanted an ‘anointed’ presidential candidate of the president are working to ensure the party is defeated in the coming election.
According to the former Minister of the FCT, those who announced Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the anointed presidential candidate of Buhari in May 2022 are hell-bent on ensuring that Bola Tinubu, the party’s candidate loses February presidential election.
Recall the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, a long time member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had announced Lawan as Buhari’s anointed candidate hours after meeting with the president ahead of the party’s presidential primary election.
Tinubu fought back to clinch the ticket and has been campaigning since the window began in October 2022.
However, the former governor of Lagos State has spoken against what he called attempts by the government to ensure he is defeated based on certain policies he said have turned the people against the party.
Speaking two weeks ago in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Tinubu said the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria was an attempt aimed at turning the people against the APC.
He also blamed the government for the ensuing fuel scarcity saying the two issues would not in any way stop him from winning the election.
Yet speaking on Wednesday, El-Rufai worked hard to distance the party and the candidate from the policies alleging that certain elements within the APC are up against the party’s presidential candidate.
When probed on the schism in the party with the election weeks away and if he believed APC is in crisis, he said, “I believe there is. I believe that there are elements in the villa that want us to lose the elections because they didn’t get their way.
“They had their candidate, their candidate didn’t win the primaries, and I think they are still trying to get us to lose the elections and they are hiding behind the President’s desire to do what he thinks is right.”
Speaking further he said, “Look, the people of Nigeria should understand that these are not the policies of the APC.
“They are not the policies of our candidate. They are the policies of the fifth columnist that want to bring us down, they want to bring this country down,” El-Rufai stated. [TheWhistler]
