The presidency today made a rather embarrassing u-turn just hours after announcing Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote as a member of president Muhammadu Buhari’s APC Presidential Campaign Council.
In what looks like a badly written script, spokesman Femi Adesina gave a rather confusing explanation for this clarification.
In a press release titled: “DANGOTE NOT MEMBER OF APC CAMPAIGN COUNCIL”, Adesina wrote:
“It has become imperative to further clarify the status of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, named under the sub-head ADVISORY MEMBERS in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council announced on Friday, December 28, 2018.
Africa’s richest man, not being a card-carrying member of APC, cannot, and is not member of the PCC. He is also a member of the Peace Committee, and thus cannot be in a partisan campaign council.”
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
December 28, 2018
Sources close to the billionaire however said that he was not only shocked but rather embarrassed to hear his name being mentioned on various news bulletins without any prior discussion.
It is thought that the act was a show of desperation by the president to present Aliko as being on APC’s side so as to shore up support from other prominent business men. This now seems to have backfired.