Cross Udo, Abuja
The Federal Government yesterday exchanged words with the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai over claims that some top officials in Aso Rock Villa are working behind the scene to halt the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, during this month’s election.
The Kaduna State Governor during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily yesterday 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.”
According to el-Rufai, those working against Tinubu’s victory were the people Tinubu defeated their presidential candidates during the party’s presidential primary election last year.
The Kaduna State Governor said the alleged Tinubu enemies have been hiding under President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies to frustrate the former Lagos state governor’s victory at the polls this month.
He said, “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.
“I discussed 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 to catch 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.”
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In its reaction, the Federal Government also debunked the allegation by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that some elements in the Presidency are working against the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu.
Federal Government yesterday insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to ensuring that the forthcoming elections in the country are free, fair, and credible and will not favour any presidential candidate.
This is as the government has dismissed the Transparency International, TI, report that placed Nigeria at 150 on the Corruption Perception Index ranking from the previous 154 out of 180 countries.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while fielding questions from the State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting on the claims by governor el-Rufai, maintained that Buhari, being the main occupant of the presidential villa, had stressed times without number that he wants his administration to deliver a credible exercise.
The Minister said if there are elements within the seat of power working against the victory of the ruling party, it has not been brought officially to his notice.
He said, “On a more serious note, one thing I can assure you is that no matter what, this administration is focused, determined to ensure free and fair elections.
“But I think with this administration the most important person is Mr President, and I think he has shown by words and by deeds that he is committed to a free, fair, and credible election. And fair, free, credible elections mean not favouring anybody or disadvantaging anybody.
“And everywhere he goes, he makes that very clear even as recently last Friday when he was in Daura (Katsina State), he said the same thing. If anybody is working against a candidate we don’t know officially.”
Also responding to the latest ranking of Nigeria dropping from 154 to 150 out of 180 countries by the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranking, the Information Minister said maybe TI is using a template that is oblivious to the war against corruption in the country.
According to him, “We are not fighting corruption because we want to impress Transparency International or any organization whatsoever.
“We’re fighting corruption because we believe if we do not fight corruption, there’ll be no growth either in terms of the economy or even politics. Therefore, what we do and what we’re putting in place to fight corruption is not because we want to be rated by anybody.
“If, for instance, what we’re doing catches the attention of transparency international and they improve and give us better marks, so we’ll go. However, I can assure you that we do not know what template TI is using.
“Whatever template they’re using is oblivious of what this administration is doing, to fight corruption.
“Corruption fighting is not just by how many people have you arrested. How many people have you tried? How many people have you convicted? Of course, even in that respect, we have a very impressive record. Is it the EFCC or is it the ICPC?
“You see if you look at what we’re doing even to make corrupt practices, almost impossible or difficult. I’ll just give you two examples. For instance, this administration, when funds were returned from the Abacha loot and other funds were recovered from the USA, the UK, and Europe, this administration that rather than pay these funds into the treasury and face the possibility of them being stolen or being re-looted, the administration decided that we will put this money into a separate account and ask the National Sovereign Investment Fund to manage these funds, and we used this money for specific projects.
“And some of our legacy projects today are being financed from our money that has been stolen, which was returned and which we have kept. To me, this is one example of how to fight corruption. An example of how to ensure that people do not steal what has been recovered again.
“I make bold to say that we have been more proactive in fighting corruption and people are not willing to see what we have put in place in fighting corruption. And that’s why I gave that example of putting money aside and how those funds are being used.”
