Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has claimed that former President Muhammadu Buhari never wanted Bola Tinubu to succeed him and did not trust his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to take over either. Instead, Buhari allegedly preferred former Senate President Ahmed Lawan.
In an interview with Tribune on Thursday, August 29, Lamido said, “Prior to the convention, Tinubu was in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he boasted that it was his turn to rule Nigeria. Buhari, very naive, was watching. He never liked Tinubu. There was somebody he wanted.”
Lamido continued, “He didn’t even trust his own vice president, Professor (Yemi) Osinbajo; he wanted Ahmed Lawan, but his calculation was absurd. You have done eight years for the North and you wanted another Northerner for another eight years?! No. Maybe later but there are some dynamics which you can’t alter, not in Nigeria of today.”
According to Lamido, Buhari lacked the courage to push through his preferred candidate. “The president of Nigeria, after being in office for eight years, lacked the courage to push through his anointed choice. He was there at the convention and Tinubu, whom he never liked or believed in, emerged. Tinubu knows that his victory wasn’t from Buhari, therefore, he owes him nothing.”
Before the 2015 presidential election, there were rumors that Buhari opposed Tinubu’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate. Some of Buhari’s officials reportedly attempted to disrupt Tinubu’s campaign through the redesign of the naira and creating artificial fuel shortages. In response, Tinubu famously declared “Emi Lokan,” meaning “it’s my turn.”
