Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, claims that some individuals within Aso Rock Villa are working to sabotage the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the upcoming election.
During an appearance on Channels TV’s “Sunrise Daily,” El-Rufai stated that those opposing Tinubu’s victory are individuals whose candidates lost to Tinubu in the APC presidential primary election.
El-Rufai went on to provide two examples of actions taken by individuals within the government that he believes are aimed at frustrating Tinubu’s chances of winning the election.
He cited the continued payment of petroleum subsidies, which he argues is draining the country of trillions of Naira, as well as the recent currency redesign, which he believes was done without political or economic sense.
“I believe there are elements in the Villa that want us to lose the election because they didn’t get their way; they had their candidate. Their candidate did not win the primaries,” El-Rufai said.
He added, “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. I will give two examples: this petroleum subsidy, which is costing the country trillions of Naira, was something that we all agreed would be removed.
“In fact, I had a discussion with the president and showed him why it had to go. Because how can you have a capital budget of N200b for federal roads and then spend N2 Trillion on petroleum subsidy? This was a conversation I had with the president in 2021 when the subsidy thing started rising. He was convinced. We left. It changed. Everyone in the government agreed, and it changed.
“The second example I will give is this currency redesign. You have to understand the president. People are blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for the currency redesign, but No. You have to go back and look at the first outing of Buhari as president. He did this; the Buhari, Idiagbon regime changed our currency and did it in secrecy with a view to catching those that are stashing away illicit funds. It is a very good intention. The president has his right. But doing it at this time within the allotted time does not make any political or economic sense.”
