The spokesperson of the campaign office of President Goodluck Jonathan, Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused a national leader of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, of plotting to emerge Nigeria’s president through the back door.
Mr. Fani-Kayode, who addressed a press conference Friday in Abuja, said the APC is planning to foist on Nigeria “an evil, ungodly, wicked and ruthless agenda” in the event the APC wins.
He said since the formation of the APC it has been an open secret that Mr. Tinubu is its national leader and also its biggest financier.
“The question that should agitate every Nigerian is why Tinubu has been investing heavily in the APC presidential project to such a point that he has single-handedly produced the joint presidential ticket of General Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
“It should baffle well-meaning Nigerians why Senator Tinubu has decided to draft General Buhari, despite his age, acrimonious background and questionable health status, into the presidential race whilst ensuring that his stooge, Prof. Osinbajo was foisted on the general as vice presidential candidate,” he said.
The reason, he said Mr. Tinubu is doing all that is to seize the presidency of Nigeria by subterfuge.
Mr. Fani-Kayode said the former Senator had wanted to be running mate to Mr. Buhari in spite of a nationwide resentment for Muslim-Muslim ticket in the country.
He said Mr. Tinubu had justified the ticket by saying that competence was the important thing and not the issue of religion.
He said when that agenda could not succeed, the opposition leader, after being given the opportunity to nominate a vice presidential candidate, decided to “prop up his stooge in the person of Prof Osinbajo”.
“Now the real reason Senator Tinubu nominated Osinbajo has been made known to us and we hereby offer a public service to the Nigerian people by drawing national attention to it. Credible pieces of information at our disposal indicate that Tinubu has perfected plans to come to power through the back door.
“Senator Tinubu, according to our information, has compelled Professor Osinbajo to swear to an oath that after six months in office, he would resign as the vice president, in the unlikely event that their party wins.
“The wicked plot, as laid out by them, is to force Professor Osinbajo to resign for Senator Tinubu to be nominated by General Buhari as his replacement,” he said.
The campaign spokesperson said the ultimate objective of this plot is to ensure that Mr. Tinubu becomes President.
The script he said, is that given the “questionable” health of Mr. Buhari, Mr. Tinubu who is desperate to be president, will simply bid his time in the expectation that Mr. Buhari will not be able to go the whole hog.
“How wicked can those that hatched this plan be? How unfair can they be to the North, to General Buhari and to Nigerians? We wish General Buhari long life.
“Senator Tinubu’s dangerous plan is about getting power. This is sad. No thoroughbred Yoruba man or indeed Nigerian wants to get power through the misfortune of another person,” he said.
To buttress his point, Mr. Fani-Kayode said Mr. Tinubu had perfected the same plan prior to the 2011 election when he attempted to force then running mate, Tunde Bakare to resign and pave the way for him to emerge as vice presidential candidate.
He said becoming the vice president is not the destination for Mr. Tinubu but becoming the president!
“The agenda of the cabal within the APC is with the perceived health challenges of General Buhari.
“They have told themselves in hushed tones that he has prostate cancer, acute asthma and that he suffers from dementia,” he said.
Mr. Fani-Kayode said all structures around Mr. Buhari belongs to Mr. Tinubu.
He said all the actors around Mr. Buhari that are driving his campaign behind the scenes are all Tinubu’s men.
“Most of the covert funding for this campaign comes from Tinubu’s friend outside the country and from Tinubu’s himself. So, if he becomes President, Buhari will become virtually incapacitated and he will not be the one running the government.
“Those behind this plan would now be waiting for Buhari to pass on. That is what Tinubu want to do to the North and to Nigeria.
“This is a wicked and ungodly attempt for Tinubu not only against the North and the Hausa/Fulani but against the whole country.
“We are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that most Nigerians are not with this cabal. This is because no sane or rationale person would wish another evil to actualize his political ambition,” he said.
