El-Rufai, 2 other APC governors sued Buhari for personal benefits — Melaye

The spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council, Dino Melaye, alleged on Tuesday that the recent lawsuit filed by some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors against President Muhammadu Buhari over the redesign of the naira notes had selfish motives.

Three APC governors— Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) had on Monday approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to restrain the president and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, from further implementation of the policy on naira redesign.

Melaye, who reacted to the development in a statement, said the governors filed the suit for fear of losing in the forthcoming elections.

The PDP chieftain accused the APC of planning to rig the February 25 election with slush funds.

Read also:Melaye accuses APC, Tinubu of allegedly sponsoring blackmail moves against Atiku

The statement read: “Those who have positioned themselves to benefit from the unlikely and inconceivable Tinubu presidency are feeling so threatened, hopeless and rudderless that they have even now taken their own President to court over his refusal to endorse their evil agenda of using public funds to buy votes. As it happened in the Egypt of old, their money has failed in their hands.

“Frightened by the unmistakable and unstoppable prospects of the loss of the presidential election, the APC has, in panic mode, resorted to outright falsehood against Atiku Abubakar, the imaginary APC cabal in the Villa, the Governor of Central Bank, the Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and even the leader of their party, President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The current narrative being peddled is anchored on a conspiracy theory involving the aforementioned in an agenda that reflects ethnic pursuit. Having boasted that the APC has money to buy votes and having failed to mask behind a pretentious preference of power shift to the South, the new song is now against the indomitable Atiku as the favourite of the powers in Aso Rock, the Governor of the Central Bank and the Managing Director of NNPC. And I ask if the humiliated Nigerian masses and the key figures of the APC administration are against APC in an election year, how can it think of victory in the Presidential election?

“Going by the propagated lies of the power hawks in APC led by Nasir El-Rufai, all things have ever been done to favour Atiku. By their postulation, the APC cabal in Aso Rock has done everything to favour Atiku, including the trillions of naira debt overhang, the spiralling inflation, insecurity, fuel scarcity, job losses, brain drain, and unemployment.

“Atiku is advancing rapidly to breast the tape. Like a striker on the soccer field, his opponents and defenders are doing everything to launch a sliding tackle. At this stage of the game, Atiku is already in the penalty box.

“The more the tackles, the greater his prospect of scoring. And with the panic defense being launched by the APC, it is obvious that they have, by their own confusion, scored their own goal. Head or tail, Atiku is the winner, as we now have the hosting fans booing their own home team and applauding the opponent.”

By Abdulkabeer Ambali

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now