Governor
Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has dared the Aso Rock “cabals” he believes are
opposed to the Presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, candidate of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election.
El-Rufai
had sparked a controversy on Wednesday when he said some persons in Aso Rock
were working against Tinubu.
While
responding to a question in a yet to be fully released interview with BBC
Hausa, El-Rufai said, “Respecting people is not fear, I swear we don’t fear
anyone in this country, so we are not fearful, we are respectful but if you
show us you are not an elder, I swear we will fight you.”
The
governor’s latest comment was shared on social media ahead of the full release.
El-Rufai
spoke in apparent response to the “Villa elements” he referred to in the
Channels interview
When
he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday,
El-Rufai said persons who backed a different aspirant in the APC presidential
primaries are now hiding behind President Buhari to pursue their interests.
“I
believe there are elements in the villa who 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,” he had said.
Aisha,
wife of the president backed El-Rufa’i over his claim that some elements in the
presidency are plotting to sabotage Tinubu’s victory.
The
first lady, who wields great influence in the Villa, voiced her support for
El-Rufai when she shared a clip of the interview containing the governor’s main
allegation against the saboteurs who are non-members of the party and are
exploiting the president’s goodwill for their selfish ends.
But
the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, responded saying
officially, the government was not aware of anyone within the Presidential
Villa engaging in such action.
He
said the government had been fair to all candidates regardless of party
affiliation and that Buhari had consistently demonstrated that he was for free,
fair and credible elections
