Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), says former President Muhammadu Buhari was reluctant to hand over power to President Bola Tinubu in 2023 because he considered him bad news for Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed spoke at a summit organised by the Northern
Elders Forum, in a video published on Symfoni’s YouTube channel on Saturday.
He said Nigerians should have questioned Tinubu’s
presidential ambition when he declared “Emilokan” (it’s my turn) in the
build-up to the 2023 elections.
“Nigerians ought to have known there was something wrong the
day Tinubu said ‘It’s my turn’. Maybe we missed it,” he said.
“We have a presidency of a country of 250 million people. My
turn? To do what? To become president.”
Baba-Ahmed said Buhari was reluctant to transfer power to
Tinubu after realising what his presidency could mean for the country.
“Even Buhari saw Tinubu as bad news for this country. In
fairness to him, he is not around him. Buhari resisted some people who insisted
it had to be Tinubu,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He criticised Tinubu’s administration, saying the country
had deteriorated under his leadership.
“Now we are being depressed for having a president for three
and a half years. He has dragged the country as low as it is possible to go.
And it has to stop him. We cannot go below, beyond where we are,” he said.
He expressed confidence in Nigerians’ ability to overcome
the country’s challenges, saying it had survived crises in the past.
“We are very resilient people. We have seen crises bigger
than this, and we survived it. We survived it, and we will survive this one,”
he said.
“We will survive the four years of abuse, neglect, and
plunder that Tinubu has caused because Nigeria has to survive for our children
and their children.”
‘EVERY INDEX OF FAILURE SHOWS IN THIS ADMINISTRATION’
He accused the president of prioritising his political
ambition over the country’s welfare, adding that the administration had failed
across key indicators.
“We will not allow a president to fulfil an ambition that
one individual alone can wreck his country, just to prove that he has the power
and the money to do so,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“We are at the bottom. There is no way to go anymore. Every
index of failure shows in this administration.”
He also criticised Tinubu for not personally appealing to
Nigerians for another term, saying the president had instead asked his
political allies to campaign on his behalf.
Baba-Ahmed said northern governors had failed to draw the
president’s attention to economic hardship and public dissatisfaction in the
region.
The PRP chairman said opposition parties were working
towards a coalition to challenge Tinubu in 2027, adding that the alliance was
serious about pooling resources and setting aside their differences.
“What we have seen is an incredible willingness for
politicians to come together and say, let’s put aside some of our differences
and see if we can actually create a momentum strong enough to remove this
Tinubu,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed said the coalition would produce a candidate to
challenge the president, urging Nigerians who oppose Tinubu’s re-election to
support whoever emerges.
“There will be a candidate that will be produced by this
coalition. Vote for whoever he is,” he said.
He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to ensure that the 2027 elections reflects the will of voters.
“INEC must guarantee that the 2027 elections will reflect
the will of the people,” he said.
“If it does, and it must, because the consequences are
almost clear, Tinubu is done.”
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