A former governor of Sokoto state, Attahiru Bafarawa has taken a swipe at Kaduna Ktate governor, Nasir El-Rufai for claiming that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu must win in 2023, with or without the support of those who think they are the northern elders.
El-Rufai, in an outburst of anger during an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, lambasted those he called "a presidency cabal backed by some elders in Northern Nigeria” whom he said were “working to scuttle the victory of Bola Tinubu".
He, however, asserted that “no matter what, Tinubu is going to win”.
“Yes, he must win the election with or without their support,” El-Rufai was quoted as saying in Hausa.
"The new naira notes redesign and the current acute shortage of petrol are among some of the strategies put in place to decampaign Tinubu, but they'll not succeed.”
The Kaduna governor dismissed the political influence of northern elders, saying the 19 governors of the northern states are the real elders of the region.
Reacting to El-Rufai's ventilation of anger, Bafarawa asked, "Why would El-Rufai assert that whether the North likes it or not, Tinubu must win? He (El-Rufai) is being delusional because who deceived him that Northerners are all APC members?
"By the way, why do they think that the naira redesign is targeted at them? Why are other candidates not crying out in this manner? Better still, could it be that they've perfected plans to buy the election?
"Let El-Rufai be told that the Northern region is greater than any individual. And anyone who tries to undermine the region will certainly be punished. For him to have defied the elders of the region, he must face the consequences of his action.
"El-Rufai has the right to support and campaign for Tinubu, but he doesn't have the right by whatever means to assert that Tinubu must win.
"And make no mistake we're going to shock them to their bones by the time election results are declared."
