The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has asserted that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu would emerge victorious at the forthcoming polls.
This is as he debunked claims of plans of working towards an Interim National Government (ING).
understands that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the assertion when he was featured on a TVC live programme, “This Morning” on Friday.
The minister said claim from certain quarters about plans of an interim government was the handwork of a fifth columnist, planning to destabilise the country.
Mohammed submitted that both the APC and Tinubu were working hard to emerge victorious and he would win at the polls.
He reiterated that the 2023 elections would be conducted free and fair and Tinubu would emerge victorious.
The minister stated that “Tinubu will win the 2023 Presidential election. APC will succeed itself and there will be no interim government because we have no intention to stay a day after the end of the tenure of this administration.
“As a matter of fact, President Muhammadu Buhari’ has already constituted a transition committee and by the grace of God, we will hand over to the APC candidate, no matter the conspiracy theories all around.
“The APC Presidential candidate is everywhere and he has campaigned more than other candidates.
“The president, the party and the government are also solidly behind him.”
The minister, who mentioned that the APC flag bearer has been preparing for the position he is vying for more than 20 years back noted that besides establishing structure across the country, Tinubu had been supporting and sponsoring candidates in Northern, Southern and Eastern states of the country.
He went ahead to say that some people misunderstood the president when they claimed that he is a passive supporter of Tinubu.
He explained that such reports were wrong and were the handiwork of mischief makers, noting that people failed to understand that the president wore two caps as president of the nation and the leader of the ruling APC.
The minister said Buhari spoke as the president of the country when he said he would not favour any candidate at the election, which was misunderstood by people.
The minister said as the party’s leader, President Buhari raised Tinubu’s hands in Lafia, Nasarawa State and declared him his successor when he led the Presidential campaign train to the state.
Mohammed added that “What will Buhari and the party benefit in not supporting Tinubu to become president?
“It will be suicidal for anybody in the government not to support Tinubu because if any other party wins, it will be a hostile takeover.
“If Tinubu does not become the president, the greatest loss will be for APC, therefore, it is not in our interest to put stumbling block in his winning the polls.’’
He said the redesign policy was not a deliberate policy by the government to create hurdles for his successor, adding that the pains of the aftermath of the Naira redesign would be short-lived.
