Goddy Egene
President Bola Tinubu has expressed serious disappointment with the desperation of some public officials associated with him, saying their desperation for power is affecting the image of his administration negatively, insiders in the Villa have revealed.
According to those familiar with the latest development, the president, despite the prevalent notion that he wants to retain power by crooked means, “is actually eager to leave a legacy of free and fair elections, believing that he has done enough to earn him a second term in office”.
It was gathered that some of his close associates alerted him to what they described as an anomaly in the latest candidates’ list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accusing the senator representing Ogun West in the National Assembly, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly called Yayi, and some others, of engaging in what they called “a defeatist strategy”.
“Those who alerted the president are people who have the true interest of our president at heart, not those that are doing everything to inherit his structure while he is still alive.
“We won’t allow anything to stain the legacy we are trying to leave for Nigerians. In Osun, the president proved to Nigerians that he is a man of his words; that he is committed to free and fair elections no matter who is on the receiving end. So he won’t allow the electoral umpire to be deliberately portrayed as biased ahead of the elections,” the source, a top All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, said.
He also hinted that the president had called an emergency inner caucus meeting to protect his “democratic legacy”.
According to him, the first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is one of those at the forefront of making things right at the Villa.
“There are things I shouldn’t tell you here. But I can tell you for a fact that the president has expressed his strong dissatisfaction and things will be corrected. No one should continue to drop his name to advance their selfish ambitions. Baba is a true democrat. His performance in office will win the forthcoming election for him,” the source said.
Another presidential source revealed that there were actually cracks within the APC that the president was trying to mend in the remaining days before the election.
He said: “We will deliver Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the forthcoming election, no matter what the opposition does. But everyone should carry their cross and not paint the president black.
“We would have allowed this to slide and not tell the president to call them to order. But a situation where our party members would be celebrating that they would remove names from the INEC list even before it actually happened was a reckless one,” the insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added.
Senator Adeola has been embroiled in an identity and character controversy since the launch of his governorship ambition, an issue he addressed when he met with the media in Lagos.
The controversy is being played up by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, which has been gaining momentum under its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, son of billionaire businessman, Sir Kensington Adebutu.
On Saturday, his name and that of his running mate were excluded from INEC’s final list of candidates, just as the name of Isa Ali Pantami, also of the PDP, was removed in Gombe State.
The candidates have since queried their exclusion and advised supporters to be calm.