Immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, said geo-political configurations arising from the harsh socio-economic realities besetting Nigerians indicate that President Bola Tinubu will not be re-elected in the 2027 general elections.
To him, Tinubu will surely go in 2027.
According to him, Tinubu has a 91 percent disapproval rating in the North and South-East, and an average rating of 50 percent in the president’s native South-West, aside Lagos where, El-Rufai claimed, the rating is still high.
The now- chieftain of opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) took the position in an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday evening, June 23.
He spoke even as internal crisis rocked the SDP with the National Working Committee (NWC) slamming an immediate suspension on the National Chairman, Shehu Gabam, and two other officials following allegations of gross financial misconduct.
The suspension came after protesters stormed the party’s National Headquarters in Wuse 2, Abuja, and reportedly pulled down the main gate in the wake of suspicion that the party was planning to impose El-Rufai as National Chairman.
In the TV interview, El-Rufai claimed that since Tinubu came to power on May 29,2023, the president has ticked all boxes of failure in security, economy, and trade, pointing out that the abysmally poor performance had negatively impacted the lives of Nigerians with people waiting to see the back of him.
He said:”We have done some polling in many parts of the country, particularly in the South-East and the North. President Tinubu has a 91% disapproval rating; even in Lagos he has a 78% disapproval rating.
“In States in the South-West, he is doing a bit better, Ondo and Ekiti, he is doing better with the 78 percent disapproval rating, but there is nowhere he is doing better than 50% even in the South-West.”
However, El-Rufai did not disclose the specific parameters such as social groupings, age, and other relevant indices used in arriving at the ratings.
He added: “We have to ask the people to make up their minds: ‘do you like what is happening?’ This is just two years. If your life has gotten better since Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023, fine; but if not, why not give some other people a chance?
“The guy is gone, he has performed miserably. The economy has stopped, the insecurity architecture has failed, there are no clear trade and investment policies, and everything is going wrong.”
Obliquely accusing the administration of mismanagement, El-Rufai said: “They are raising lots of revenues but we don’t know where the revenues are going because there are no results.”
SDP Suspends National Chairman,Others
A day after protesters pulled down the gate of SDP, the NWC announced that it has suspended Gabam and two others.
Suspended with Gabam are National Auditor, Nze Nnadi Clarkson, and National Youth Leader, Uchechukwu Chukwuma.
NWC levelled allegations of gross financial misconduct against the trio.
SDP spokesman, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, in a statement today, stated that the trio will cease to function or represent the party in any capacity for now.
The statement read: “In exercise of its exclusive powers as guaranteed in Article 19.1, 19.3(i), and 19.5 of the Party Constitution (2022 as amended), the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has approved the immediate suspension of the National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, along with two members of the National Working Committee (NWC), namely Nze Nnadi Clarkson, National Auditor, and Uchechukwu Chukwuma, National Youth Leader, over grave allegations of gross financial misconduct, embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of party funds.
“The decision followed a resolution of a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), where overwhelming evidence was presented linking the suspended officials to a series of unauthorised financial transactions, personal enrichment schemes, and movement of funds from the party’s accounts without necessary approvals of the NWC.”
