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

A retired Nigerian Army Major General, Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi, has alleged that two influential members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposed to President Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition attempted to obtain confidential information about him from United States government agencies ahead of the 2023 election.

Ali-Keffi, a former General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, said he learnt about 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.

Speaking in an interview with SaharaReporters, the retired officer did not identify the two APC figures or provide documentary evidence supporting the allegations.

He also stressed that he neither knew the contents of the records allegedly requested from the US authorities nor suggested that they established wrongdoing by Tinubu.

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

According to him, Hamman-Tukur informed him that two APC figures who opposed Tinubu’s presidential ambition allegedly gained unauthorised access to the NFIU director’s office and contacted US agencies.

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

Ali-Keffi claimed that Hamman-Tukur, after becoming uncomfortable with the development, went to his office at about 2 am, prompting those allegedly involved to leave after discovering his presence.

The retired general further claimed that a response was subsequently received from the United States. He, however, said he was unaware of the nature of the information contained in the alleged response.

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

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

The former GOC claimed that some NFIU personnel connected with the matter were subsequently dismissed and that the controversy later resulted in litigation.

He also alleged that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, was aware of the operation and some information purportedly obtained from the US.

According to Ali-Keffi, El-Rufai opposed using confidential material against Tinubu despite knowing information that could have affected the former Lagos governor’s presidential ambition.

Ali-Keffi said, “Had 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 they 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 wouldn’t have gotten the ticket to fly the flag of APC at that time.”

The retired general said the push for power to move from the North to the South influenced his own decision to support Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

He attributed part of that thinking to El-Rufai, who was among APC figures advocating a Southern presidential candidate following eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Ali-Keffi said he ultimately voted for Tinubu because he considered the power-shift argument important for national unity.

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

Ali-Keffi also recounted a separate conversation he said he had with former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman Muhammad Nami about the political manoeuvring preceding Tinubu’s emergence.

According to the retired general, Nami told him that he had attempted to persuade an unnamed influential minister in Buhari’s government to support Tinubu.

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

Ali-Keffi quoted the unnamed minister as warning that Tinubu could target some political figures if he became president.

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

He said Nami nevertheless pushed the case for a Southern presidency, arguing that it would promote national cohesion.

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

“I regret actually voting for him. I’m not going to vote APC next election,” he declared.