Security agents stalk Tinubu

Is Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu under security watch? This is a question currently begging for answers.

Apprehension that President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list has created a lot of discomfort within the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) heightened at the weekend when speculations became rife that the party leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, might have come under intense security watch. He is credited with the string of successes that saw the emergence of the retired Army General as President.

The Sun reports that Security agencies have launched a surveillance ring around Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and others, including some members of the National Assembly, over an alleged plot against President Muhammadu Buhari.

The report cites presidency sources as saying that the plot may not be unconnected to the decision of President Buhari to dump several nominees submitted by some party leaders and political godfathers for ministerial appointments, and moves by the two major contending forces in the Senate to mend fences.

However, responding to inquiries made by Ripples Nigeria, the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said the alleged plot to place Tinubu under security surveillance was “not to my knowledge”.

Also in reply to Ripples enquiry, Senior Special Adviser to President Buhari, on media and publicity, Mallam Shehu Garba, simply stated that is was “unimaginable”, that the Presidency has placed Tinubu under security watch.

Attempts made to seek clarifications from Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr Sunday Dare, was not successful as his phones were switched off. A message sent to his telephone was yet to be responded to at the time of filing this story.

The Sun report had claimed that some state governors, party leaders and political godfathers, whose nominees were dumped by the President for his preferred candidates, have begun to “unleash their goons in a well coordinated media campaigns and groups’ protests against Mr President’s choice of ministerial nominees”

It said that of particular interest to some of the nation’s intelligence agencies keeping a tab on the plot “is the decision of an APC leader in the South-West to jet out of the country the moment he realised that he could not push through his ministerial nominees, only to be coordinating attacks against the President from his base outside the country.”

Read also: I stand with Buhari -Tinubu

Intelligence sources who are leading the investigations were quoted as saying that “a particular political godfather who has been spear­heading the campaign to remove the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has suddenly turned round to be reaching out to Senators in his (Saraki’s) camp to mend fences so as to form a joint force to launch an attack against the President.

“We are following all of these clues and leads including promises by the same person to help crush the criminal charges against a leading Senator. This brand of politics will in no way help the ruling party and the nation. One man must not have his way in all cases and in every arrangement”.

Legal luminaries and top politicians who spoke to Ripples Nigeria on the worrisome development were, however, quick to dismiss any attempt at hounding, harassing or placing any Nigerian under restriction of any sort as the constitution guaranteed freedom of movement and association.

“Tinubu is a free man and at liberty to go anywhere, choose his friends and hold any views as long as his activities do not infringe the constitution of Nigeria. We will resist every and any attempt to truncate our democracy under any guise”, one of them said.

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