Just as Judas betrayed Jesus, so would political supporters tend to betray their parties for rivals during the buildup to every election.
This has been evident in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) camp with the rise of the G5 governors and the transfer of key guber aspirants into rival parties such as the Labour Party (LP).
Although the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has received its fair share of defections over the past year, this woman’s case might be the juiciest because of the drama attached.
Naja’atu Muhammad
Her comments on operations inside APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu’s campaign have sparked conversation and further disgust for the APC.
But who is she, what happened between her and the APC and what are some of the claims she has made about Tinubu and the APC?
Who is Naja’atu Muhammad?
Naja’atu’s political career was boosted as a senate nominee for Kano Central District under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007 before they merged with other parties and became APC.
Naja’atu was one of President Buhari’s biggest fans during his early days as president from 2015-2016.
Until her resignation on January 22, 2023, she was the Director of Civil Society in Tinubu’s campaign team.
What went wrong between her and the APC, causing this drama?
The Naja’atu-APC fallout
The first sign of ‘love gone bad’ between Naja’atu and the APC was when she filed her resignation letter to the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
According to Naja’atu, she could no longer participate in party politics due to “recent developments in the political and democratic space.”
However, Naja’atu didn’t waste time sharing the developments, as she had an exclusive interview with Whistlers the day after her resignation.
In the interview, she gave more context into her leaving the APC due to Tinubu’s ‘ill health’ and ‘dementia’.
The day after the interview, Naja’atu must have decided that party politics were still ‘her thing’ after all. She pledged allegiance
According to her, she chose Atiku because she didn’t have the “luxury of time” and thus had to pick between “the devil and the deep blue sea.”
At this point, the disloyalty was too much for Tinubu’s presidential team. On January 24, 2023, they fired back by saying that Naja’atu didn’t actually resign, but was sacked.
According to Tinubu’s Adviser on Public Affairs, Mahmud Jega, Naja’atu was fired for incompetence and leaking vital information to rival parties.
He also said that she resigned when she found out that they knew about her disloyalty.
Are you for real?
Since then, it’s been nothing but disses from Naja’atu concerning the inner workings of the APC. Let’s outline four of them:
Tinubu’s illnesses
During her interview with Whistlers, Naja’atu revealed that Tinubu has Alzheimer’s because “he couldn’t even hold a cup of tea.”
She also hinted that he sleeps almost all the time and may have dementia, as he could no longer decipher simple terms and meanings.
“Tinubu bribed APC governors for the presidential ticket”
Naja’atu also sat down with THISDAY Newspapers to give them more exclusive gist.
According to her, the APC presidential primaries were rigged, as ballot papers were already marked with Tinubu’s name on it. She also claimed that there are clips of APC governors sharing money given by Tinubu after the primaries.
“Northerners are plotting for Shettima to take over”
During the THISDAY interview, she also released another bombshell on why some Northerners are running for Tinubu. This is so that Tinubu’s running mate, Kasim Shettima, can become president if his health fails.
According to Naja’atu, “Some people from Maiduguri called me asking, ‘Hajia, why did you do this? You have now punctured our interest. Our son is going to be president, and you’re talking like that? After all, look at Tinubu; he cannot do it. We’re all for Kashim.”
“Terrorist Kabiru was arrested in Shettima’s house”
Naja’atu in an interview with AriseTV also accused Shettima of being in cahoots with terrorists.
According to Naja’atu, “Kasim Shettima has been associated several times with the funding of terrorism. We should not forget Kabiru Sokoto, who was one of the most wanted terrorists in 2016. He was found and arrested in Shettima’s house.”
