APC Leaders Sought Tinubu’s US Records Before 2023 Election – Retired General

Retired Nigerian Army Major General, Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi has accused two influential members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who opposed the presidential ambition of President Bola Tinubu of attempting to obtain confidential information about him from US government agencies in the run-up to the 2023 election.

Ali-Keffi, a former General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, said he learnt of the alleged attempt from the then Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Hamman-Tukur, in the build up to the APC presidential primary.

The retired officer did not name the two APC figures nor present documentary evidence to support the claims when he spoke in an interview with SaharaReporters.

He also said he did not know the contents of the purported records requested from the US authorities, and did not suggest they established wrongdoing by Tinubu.

Ali-Keffi said the incident occurred during his time as Commander of Operation Service Wide, an operation he described as dealing with the financing of terrorism and leadership structures of terrorist organizations.

According to him, Hamman-Tukur told him that two APC members opposed to Tinubu’s presidential aspiration were said to have stormed the office of the NFIU director and contacted US agencies.

“Two important APC people who were against Tinubu went illegally into the office of the director of NFIU and sent messages to the US government agencies asking for confidential records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu on those issues, terrorism financing,” he alleged.

According to Ali-Keffi, Hamman-Tukur became uncomfortable with the development and went to his office at about 2 am, and those allegedly involved left when they found out he was there.

The retired general also claimed that the United States had responded then. He however said he was not aware of the nature of the information in the alleged response.

Read Also: What You Need To Know About Dangote Refinery Shares, Price, IPO Date, How To Buy

“I don’t know what the record is or related to current issues concerning his forfeiture and other issues, if I am not mistaken,” he said.

Ali-Keffi said his account was based on information he alleged the former NFIU director provided to him.

The former GOC said some NFIU personnel connected with the affair were subsequently dismissed and that the row later led to litigation.

He also alleged that former Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai knew about the operation and some information allegedly got from the US.

El-Rufai resisted the temptation to use classified information against Tinubu, considering that he knew facts that may have affected the former governor of Lagos in his presidential ambition, Ali-Keffi said.

Ali-Keffi said, “If people like the former NFIU Director and people like El-Rufai who were in the know, who were aware of that documents that were sent in respect of candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had allowed it to get to public domain at that time, I believe it would have perhaps hurt the candidacy of Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

“Certainly he would not have got the ticket to fly the flag of APC at that time,” he said.

The retired general said his own decision to back Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election was influenced by the desire for power to shift from the North to the South.

Read Also: What You Need To Know About Dangote Refinery Shares, Price, IPO Date, How To Buy

Part of that thinking he attributed to El-Rufai, who was among APC figures pushing for a Southern presidential candidate after eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Ali-Keffi said he voted for Tinubu eventually because he felt the argument for a shift in power was important for national unity.

Tinubu eventually emerged as the APC’s presidential candidate and won the 2023 election.

Ali-Keffi also narrated another conversation he said he had with former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman Muhammad Nami on the politics that led to the emergence of Tinubu.

Nami had informed the retired general that he tried to persuade an influential minister in Buhari’s government, whose name was not revealed, to support Tinubu.

He said the conversation reportedly occurred in New York during a gathering of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ali-Keffi quoted the unnamed minister as saying Tinubu could go after some political figures if he became president.

“See, Ahmed Tinubu is coming for them. He was going to do this, and that. “You people don’t know this,” Ali-Keffi recalled the minister saying.

Nami nevertheless pushed the case for a Southern presidency, saying it would promote national cohesion.

Three years after backing Tinubu at the polls, Ali-Keffi said his political position had changed. The retired general was unhappy with his decision to vote for the President.

“I regret voting for him. He said, “I will not vote APC next election.”