El-Rufai Alleges Some Forces In Aso Rock Working Against Tinubu Presidency
Governior Nasir El-Rufai has said there are elements in the Presidential Villa, Abuja working against the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Kaduna State Governor on a television programme on Wednesday, said the elements were aggrieved that their preferred candidates lost in the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential primaries to Bola Tinubu.
The allegation came days after Tinubu during a presidential rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital alleged that some people within the presidency were behind the ongoing petrol crisis and the hasty redesining of the naira notes.
El-Rufai on Wednesday, said the elements who he did not mention their names, want the APC to lose in the presidential poll, because their preferred candidates did not win the APC ticket.
According to the governor, the elements are hiding behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s desire to do what he think was right.
El-Rufai explained that the forces were behind are behind the non-removal of petrol subsidy after he had a conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari where it was agreed that subsidy should be removed.
He added that the same Aso Rock ‘elements’ are behind the faulty implementation of naira notes swap introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
El-Rufai said, “This petroleum subsidy which is costing the country trillions of naira was something that we all agreed should be removed. In fact, I had a discussion with the President and showed him why it had to go.
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“How can you have a capital budget of 200 billion naira for federal roads and then spend two trillion on subsidy? This was a conversation I had with the President in 2021 when the subsidy started rising. He was convinced. We left; it changed. Everyone in the government agreed.
“The second example I would give is this currency redesign. You have to understand the President. People are blaming the governor of the Central Bank for the currency redesign.
“No, you have to go back and look at the President’s first outing as president. He did this,” El-Rufai said.
He noted that the military government of President Muhammadu Buhari between 1983 and 1985 also changed the Nigerian currency and did so in secret with a view to catching those that stashed away illicit funds.
But the governor admitted that the timing of the policy leaves the APC vulnerable ahead of the forthcoming elections.
“It’s a very good intention – very clear intention. The President’s heart is white. But doing it at this time within the time allotted just doesn’t make any political [or] economic sense.
“And for such a programme to work, we have to be involved as governors, as sub nationals,”
