Former Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai has spoken on his 2027 political ambition.
He said on Arise TV interview that whereas he had no plan to contest for the position of president in 2027, he was surefooted in his bid to stop the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This, according to him, was the motivation for being in the oppositional vanguard to rally unhappy and economically traumatised Nigerian people and electorate to vote out Tinubu.
el-Rufai on the Arise Television interview described the Tinubu administration as “a tragedy” that must be upended.
He said he would align with whatever party the opposition coalition decided eventually as the vehicle to achieve the noble objective.
He, however, recommended to the coalition to adopt the Social Democratic Party (SDP) rather than registering a new All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as being proposed.
He insisted that Nigerians were tired of the lies and misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and were looking for a credible option.
“We have polled it. There is 91 per cent disapproval of this administration across the country. 91 per cent disapproval is the worst in Nigeria’s history,” el-Rufai said.
“But Nigerians are looking for a credible option. But I want to see people coming together, putting aside their differences and ambitions, and giving them an alternative to this failure of a government. That’s the key thing.”
Asked if he was ready to downplay his personal ambition for this cause with the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and so many other big politicians in the race, he replied that big names did not equate to ambition.
“You’ve mentioned my name. I have no ambition. I just feel that having contributed to bringing about this tragedy to Nigeria by contributing to the emergence of Tinubu as President, I should contribute in my last lap, because I’m 65, I should be retiring in my last lap.
“Let me contribute towards removing this evil that I believe will destroy Nigeria if left unchecked.”
el-Rufai advocated the adoption of the SDP by the coalition owing to its history and legacy.
Read him: “I strongly believe that the SDP is the best platform for a coalition; its history, its legacy, its sentimental value, and everything about it is almost perfect, the name, the logo, and I’m advocating for that among my colleagues.”
THE CONCLAVE reports that the coalition against President Tinubu’s reelection is gathering steam.
It has in its fold Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), el-Rufai (SDP), Obi (Labour Party, LP), Amaechi (APC), and others.
In fact, a former crony of Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been mentioned as one of the prime movers of the grand coalition to rescue Nigeria from the Tinubu administration.
Although, there were reports of plans to register All Democratic Alliance [ADA] as the oppositional platform on which anti-Tinubu elements would converge to consummate their plot to stop his reelection, yet the plan has yet to be perfected.
ADA is already confronted with the shenanigans of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which on Monday said that the association had yet to formally apply for registration asna party despite the filings by the group.
This development has raised the spectre of fear that the Electoral body, working in concert with the Presidency, might frustrate the transformation of ADA into a political party for the purpose of participating in the 2027 general elections.
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