The Federal Government has dismissed claims by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that some elements in the Presidential Villa are working against the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said the government was not “officially aware” of any entity in the Presidential Villa working against the victory of the APC standard bearer.
But the APC Presidential Campaign Council differed, saying it was not surprised by the governor’s revelation that some elements in the seat of power were against Tinubu’s candidacy, adding that El-Rufai was merely stating the obvious.
The governor dropped the bombshell when he appeared as a guest on the Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday.
It came a week after Tinubu cited the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the lingering fuel crisis as part of plots to thwart the poll and his expected victory.
El-Rufai claimed the forces working against the Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima joint ticket were people whose preferred candidate lost the APC presidential ticket to the former Lagos State governor last year.
He said, “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. 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.
“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.