Media columnist Farooq Kperogi says President Muhammadu Buhari “and his cronies” in the All Progressives Congress (APC) fear that the national leader of the ruling party, Bola Tinubu, is “more likely than not” to win in the event of a primary.
According to Kperogi, a criminal gang is opposed to Tinubu becoming president in 2023.
The public commentator also said that if Tinubu becomes the APC standard bearer, the cabal would “sabotage” Tinubu in the general elections.
Kperogi’s statements came after President Buhari asked governors to allow him to choose his successor.
“There is no doubt that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the protagonist of the APC presidential politics film in 2023. The others are just pawns or supporting players,” Kperogi wrote in a recent article.
“The postponement of the party’s primaries, the crowded field of presidential primaries, the horse-trading frenzy, clandestine deals, consensus offering, etc. in the APC have all been done to ensure that Tinubu does not claim the party’s nomination.
“The several meetings that were called to persuade Tinubu to agree to become the consensus candidate of the party, which is the only reason the party mandated INEC to extend the primaries, did not work.
“The party then conceived to ask the selection committee, which was tentatively chaired by his political enemy, John Oyegun, to disqualify him based on his earlier false statements – under oath no less – that he had studied at the University of Chicago, Government College of Ibadan and St Paul Aroloya Children’s Home School, Ibadan.
“The application of one Mai-Iyala Sagir Wada to the selection committee was part of a conspiracy.
“Obviously, it did not work because the party’s legal advisers know that if Tinubu sues to disqualify the party on the basis of perjury he committed over 20 years ago, his victory will go smoothly.
“Buhari and his clique fear that if the primaries take place, Tinubu, who does NOT WANT to be president, is likely to win.
“Well, if his victory in the APC primaries is inevitable and they don’t want him to become president, then the only option they have left at the moment is to let him win the primaries and then sabotage him in the general elections.
“This is what happened to Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
Other than that, they are as attached to Tinubu as whites are to rice.”
“Tinubu is a tough nut to crack. If we try to crack him, the party may split.
“People who have known him since his childhood in Iragbi say Tinubu would rather give his life in a fight than give up a fight that would put him at a disadvantage. I don’t envy the cab and Abdullahi Adamu.