Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed the second-term ambition of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 polls, declaring that the latter has no chance of winning.

El-Rufai, during an interview with journalists yesterday in Abuja, said he was happy with the influx of defectors to the All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that it would be a leeway for the coalition to defeat the APC, because according to him, Nigerians would be the ones to vote and not the governors.

The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reminisced how as governor, his then party, APC, lost the presidential election, because the voters stood their grounds.

According to him, most Nigerians are fed up with the APC and PDP, adding that those people defecting have questions to answer before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and those looking for appointments and contracts.

?Anybody that thinks that it is possible for President Bola Tinubu to get re-elected, is living in another country, not Nigeria. It is impossible for Bola Tinubu to get re-elected.

?I do not see a pathway for him, no matter how disorganised the opposition is. Who would vote for him? But that is my opinion.

?It seems clear to me that most Nigerians have lost hope in both the APC and the PDP and are looking for a credible alternative.

?It is greedy and hungry politicians and those that are looking for money, contract, appointment, office, that are defecting.

?The other class of those defecting are those that know that the EFCC or ICPC can intimidate them, because they know what they have done. If they have done what is not quite right, they know that the corruption agencies can be weaponised against them.

?It is greedy and hungry politicians and those that are looking for money, contract, appointment, office, that are defecting.

?The other class of those defecting are those that know that the EFCC or ICPC can intimidate them, because they know what they have done.

?If they have done what is not quite right, they know that the corruption agencies can be weaponised against them.?

On the coalition, he said: ?This discussion, as I said, is going on. So, anyone that tells you with definitive certainty that this is what is going to happen as far as the coalition is concerned is making a mistake. There are discussions going on, and nothing is off the table.

?Anything is possible, and all the leaders of the coalition, as well as the political parties that we are engaging, are willing to make the sacrifice necessary to ensure that we have a unified platform to put Nigeria back on track. It is about saving this country. It is about giving every Nigerian the opportunity to realise their full potential.

?It is about getting a government that enables the poorest to climb the ladder and the richest to have more opportunity to be richer. That is what the coalition is about. And other than these general principles of what our objectives are, nothing has been definitely agreed. We still work in progress.?

The chieftain of SDP said he does not harbour any political ambition, revealing that until he gets divine mandate from God, he would not declare his intention to vie for any elective position.

?I don?t have any ambition. I have never had ambition. Even when I ran for governor of Kaduna State, it was because President Buhari, General Buhari, then, insisted that I should run.

?I do not have ambition. Where I come from and in my religion, wanting something for yourself, is taboo and it is prohibited.

?You only go into a leadership situation if you are invited, if you are asked to run. You do not crave for leadership, you run away from leadership, because leadership is a heavy burden that can destroy you.

?So unless God sends leadership opportunities, you don?t go for it. That is not who we are. Traditionally, that is not what my religious tenets instruct me. So I have no personal ambition.

?I just want to see a country that works. In a country that works, I do not need to be anything to thrive. I know that I work hard, I do my things honestly with dedication, and I will do well.

?I do not have to have a position or aspire to any position to do well,? he said. (Daily Sun, but headline rejigged)

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