September 22, 2025
The Presidency has refuted former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that President Bola Tinubu is seeking to make himself a “life president,” insisting that if re-elected, the President has no plan to remain in office beyond 2031.
Speaking over the weekend, El-Rufai, had urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to mobilize Nigerians against President Tinubu in 2027, alleging that instead of devolving power to the lower levels the administration is rather centralising power
El-Rufai said. “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.”
In a statement on Sunday, presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described El-Rufai’s remarks as “unfounded claims and speculations.”
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Onanuga 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.”
He emphasized 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.”
