Daud Olatunji
The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has claimed that former President Muhammadu Buhari was reluctant to support the emergence of President Bola Tinubu as his successor in 2023 because he considered him a bad choice for Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed said Buhari resisted pressure from some political associates who insisted that Tinubu should succeed him, adding that the former president was concerned about what a Tinubu presidency could mean for the country.
The PRP chairman made the remarks at a summit organised by the Northern Elders Forum, in a video published on Symfoni’s YouTube channel on Saturday.
He also criticised Tinubu’s declaration of “Emilokan”, a Yoruba expression meaning “it is my turn”, during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, saying Nigerians should have questioned the ambition at the time.
According to him, the statement should have raised concerns about the motivation behind Tinubu’s quest for the presidency of a country with an estimated population of 250 million people.
“Nigerians ought to have known there was something wrong the day Tinubu said, ‘It’s my turn’. Maybe we missed it,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He added, “We have a presidency of a country of 250 million people. My turn? To do what? To become president.”
The PRP chairman said Buhari had reservations about Tinubu’s presidential ambition, claiming that the former president resisted pressure from some individuals who wanted the former Lagos State governor to succeed him.
“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,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also launched a scathing criticism of the Tinubu administration, accusing it of worsening the country’s economic and social conditions since assuming office in May 2023.
He argued that the administration had failed across key performance indicators, insisting that the country could not afford to continue on what he described as a downward trajectory.
“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.
The opposition leader, however, expressed confidence in Nigeria’s ability to overcome its current difficulties, describing the country’s people as resilient despite years of economic hardship and political challenges.
He said Nigerians had survived crises in the past and would overcome the present challenges, but insisted that the country must not allow its future to be jeopardised by the political ambitions of individuals.
“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,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He further accused the President of prioritising his political ambition over the welfare of Nigerians, alleging that the administration had failed to deliver satisfactory results across critical sectors.
“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,” he said.
“We are at the bottom. There is no way to go anymore. Every index of failure shows in this administration.”
Baba-Ahmed also questioned Tinubu’s approach to seeking re-election in 2027, criticising the President for allegedly relying on political allies to campaign for him rather than personally appealing to Nigerians for another mandate.
He equally faulted governors in the North, accusing them of failing to adequately communicate the region’s economic difficulties and public dissatisfaction to the President.
The PRP chairman said opposition parties were making serious efforts to form a coalition capable of challenging Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 presidential election.
According to him, the proposed alliance is driven by a growing willingness among opposition politicians to set aside their differences and pool their political resources to defeat the incumbent.
“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 eventually produce a presidential candidate and urged Nigerians opposed to Tinubu’s re-election to support whoever emerged from the process.
“There will be a candidate that will be produced by this coalition. Vote for whoever he is,” he said.
He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that the 2027 general election reflected the genuine choices of voters, stressing that electoral credibility would be crucial to determining the country’s political future.
“INEC must guarantee that the 2027 elections will reflect the will of the people,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“If it does, and it must, because the consequences are almost clear, Tinubu is done.”
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