Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, has stated that he knows those in Aso Rock who are not only working against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but are also plotting to derail the upcoming general elections and install an interim government.
El-Rufai stated this in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, where he discussed some people and forces he described as elements whose patterns and behaviors are consistent with plans to undermine or topple a civilian-to-civilian transition following the next presidential election.
“It turned out that some of the wildest stories of conspiracy to derail the transition at best for APC to lose, preferably for the entire system to result in no election leading to an interim arrangement began to rear their heads,” El-Rufai was quoted as saying by PREMIUM TIMES.
El-Rufai, on the other hand, refused to name the alleged conspirators, claiming they are not worthy of the traditional Nigerian label of a political cabal.
He said, “I have no problem naming them. I’m not afraid of anybody. But for me, naming them is giving them traction. They are nothing. They are not capable of winning elections. They have no idea of electoral or political legitimacy. They can only hide behind the likes of President Buhari to achieve their objectives.”
Governor El-Rufai reportedly took time to address contentious issues around President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Also speaking on the mixed signal perceived from the president’s lukewarm attitude to Mr Tinubu’s campaigns, he insisted there are no mixed signals, saying, “President Buhari considers the APC like a child he conceived and held in pregnancy for 18 months and gave birth to. He will never, I am ready to stake my neck and my life, President Buhari will never work against the APC. He will never work against the candidate of the APC even if the candidate is the devil himself.”
According to him, President Buhari is “a party man and an establishment person whose support for Mr Tinubu is sure”.
“What is happening is that there are people around the president that had their presidential candidates. They had two candidates that they preferred to succeed Buhari – Godwin Emefiele from the South and Ahmad Lawan from the north – and they got neither,” he said.