Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says President Muhammadu Buhari is in total support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The presidential poll is slated for February 25.

The minister made this clarification on Thursday in Abuja at the 22nd edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), organised to project the achievements of the Buhari regime.

He said his comment that “the president is committed to a free, fair and credible elections, and that he is doing everything possible to ensure a level-playing field for all contestants” was misinterpreted by some media outlets.

“Yesterday, while reacting to a question at the post-Federal Executive Council briefing at the State House, I said, inter alia, that Mr President is committed to a free, fair and credible elections,” the minister explained. “This comment has been misinterpreted in some circles, especially with regards to Mr President’s support for the presidential candidate of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Mr Mohammed added, “I want to say, unequivocally, that Mr President is in total support of our party’s flag bearer, and that is attested to by his continuing campaign with the candidate across the country.”

The information minister stressed that it “is preposterous to even suggest that Mr President, who is the leader of our party, is equivocating on his support for our presidential candidate” and hoped “this clears any ambiguity that may have arisen from my statement yesterday.”

On Wednesday, Governor Nasir El-Rufai accused Mr Buhari’s cabal in the Presidential Villa of plotting their failure of the APC candidate Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election.

“I believe there are elements in the Villa that want us to lose the election because they didn’t get their way. They had their candidate,” the Kaduna governor and an ally of Mr Tinubu claimed on Channels TV. “Their candidate did not win the primary election. They are still trying to get us (to) lose the elections. They are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what is right.”

(NAN)