Presidency Denies El-Rufai’s “Life President” Claim, Says Tinubu Will Exit by 2031

The Presidency has dismissed claims by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is seeking to make himself a “life president,” insisting that the President has no plan to remain in office beyond 2031 if re-elected.

El-Rufai, speaking over the weekend, had urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to rally Nigerians against President Tinubu in 2027, alleging that the current administration is centralising power instead of devolving it to the lower levels.

“If we don’t come together and end this Tinubu administration by 2027, Tinubu will try to be our Paul Biya, to be president for life. All the signs are there, this is how Paul Biya started,” El-Rufai said.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday, presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described El-Rufai’s remarks as “unfounded claims and speculations.”

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He said, “It is increasingly evident that El-Rufai has recognised the futility of attempts by his associates in his new party to prevent President Tinubu’s likely re-election in 2027. This plot is proving to be unattainable, a mission doomed to fail.”

Onanuga noted that President Tinubu’s popularity remains strong, especially in the North, citing the reception he received in Kaduna last Friday.

According to Onanuga, El-Rufai “resorted to spreading further unfounded stories, including the claim that President Tinubu intends to become a ‘life president’ because of Tinubu’s reception in the Northwest state.

“This stands in stark contrast to El-Rufai’s narrative that the region has abandoned the President,” he said.

The Presidency further dismissed El-Rufai’s suggestion of a plan for tenure elongation as “baseless and absurd.”

Onanuga stressed, “President Tinubu is a democrat who does not intend to stay in office beyond May 28, 2031, when re-elected in 2027.”

He added that Governor Uba Sani might need to reach out to his predecessor, as “El-Rufai could benefit from some professional counselling to steer him away from his recent hallucinations and political fabrications on Tinubu and 2027.”