The Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, has named an aide and an associate of President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly leading the ‘war’ against the actualisation of the presidential ambition of All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Jaafar made the revelation in an interview with Sunday Punch.
Recall that Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State on Wednesday sparked controversy when he said some persons in Aso Rock were working against Tinubu.
However, the governor did not mention names.
Reacting to El-Rufai’s comment, Jaafar identified those allegedly leading the charge against Tinubu’s ambition in the presidency as presidential aide, Sabiu Tunde, and Buhari’s associate and former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sani Zangon Daura.
He said, “You see, I only talked about the key prominent voices and the power Sabiu Tunde wields, we can say that he is the major element against Tinubu’s presidency.
“He is on the President’s side and has so much power in the Presidency such that he can influence so many things much more than anyone else.
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“I believe (Governor Nasir) El-Rufai does not want to give so much importance to a ‘small boy’. That’s why he didn’t actually mention the name.
“Sani Zangon Daura, he’s very close to the President also as I have said in that tweet; he influences a lot of things also, but suddenly he was seen going about campaigning for Atiku Abubakar; I think he was even in Jigawa State a couple of weeks ago to campaign for Atiku. It was so open that he is not hiding his choice.”
He said it was “baffling” that they were working against Tinubu despite sharing the same party.
“At the initial stage, Tinubu was not their preferred candidate; they planned to impose Senator Ahmed Lawan and that plan failed.
“So, after the plan failed, they became aggrieved even after Tinubu emerged victorious; he didn’t get much support from them. Ahmed Lawan was their preferred candidate,” Jaafar said.
Asked if Lawan was behind the plot against Tinubu, the journalist said, “I can’t say Ahmed Lawan really has a hand in this; I doubt it because even in the Villa, he does not wield as much influence as Tunde.
“In fact, he is among those kicking against Godwin Emefiele’s naira swap policy. It was very clear because he was fuming over the failure of the Presidency to involve the National Assembly in the decision before the President approved the naira redesign. So, Ahmed Lawan is not part of it.”