Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari has described the presidential flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the next president of Nigeria.
Speaking at the party’s campaign rally in Nasarawa on at the weekend, Buhari described the former governor of Lagos as a “competent Nigerian”, who will give all he has for the country.
“I’m very pleased today to be part of this campaign for Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Buhari said.
“We will win through and through. I trust Tinubu’s dedication and service. I have known Bola Tinubu for more than 20 years. I will continue to campaign for him. He is a committed Nigerian and I believe he will give everything to make Nigeria better.
Continued the President: “He loves this country. He is a believer in Nigeria and I am sure he will do everything possible to advance the well-being of all of us as citizens. He will hold this country with trust. You should cherish him.”
Buhari’s statement comes amid reports of rancour within the APC’s ranks, after Tinubu’s outburst during the party’s recent presidential rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, where he expressed dissatisfaction over the fuel and currency scarcity in the country.
“Even if you change the ink on naira notes, what you want will not happen. We will win. That umbrella party will lose. We will take this government from them — saboteurs that are dragging power with us,” said Tinubu in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun.
Meanwhile, the president restated his support for the naira redesign policy, stating that it would deter politicians from “mobilising resources to intimidate voters in the 2023 general election”.
Earlier, three APC governors accompanied the party’s presidential candidate on a “face-saving” meeting with Buhari in Daura, Katsina state, after Tinubu’s outburst.