National leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Tuesday strongly denied insinuations that he is getting ready to run for the presidency, possibly against
President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 as a “fiction.”
In a statement issued by his media office in reaction to a report in a national newspaper
on the issue, the former governor of Lagos State emphasized that he remained committed to the APC and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari who he helped to form.
“ As long as that patriotic and committed man named Muhammadu Buhari holds and
seeks to hold the mantle as our president, then Asiwaju Tinubu stands behind him in unwavering support and confidence.
“Asiwaju Tinubu remains faithful to the mission of progressive reform and change that President Buhari, he and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have started.
“Tinubu was instrumental in the formation and success of the APC. His toil and efforts helped establish this government. He is not one to tear down something he laboured so dutifully to build, said the National leader of APC.
Asiwaju Tinubu also described claim that he planned to run on the platform of the opposition PDP as a scam.
“This is as shameless as a lie can be. Asiwaju is acknowledged to be the intellectual father and the driving force behind the APC. It makes no sense that he would abandon the party that he worked
hard to build in order to enter the
dilapidated building the PDP has become.
“Asiwaju worked for over 16 years to break the PDP yoke on the nation. After breaking that yoke, it is not in his nature to voluntarily place it back on our necks.
Anyone who has followed his career, even his staunchest critics, knows Asiwaju for his partisan consistency.
“He is not a party hopper. He is loyal and sticks with the party to which he belongs.
After fighting for so many years to elevate his party to the position of national leadership, he would not give that away in order to join with those who blame him for
their currently bleak political circumstance,”
said Tinubu.
Read the full Statement below:
The front page story of the February 28 THISDAY newspaper alleging that Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu is actively planning a
presidential run is an example of bad fiction masquerading as professional journalism.
The story is a manufactured tale weaved by its authors to try to create division where there is none. Those who wrote this fantasy seek to place Asiwaju Tinubu at odds with President Buhari. Writing such a baseless
report is a very foul and wrong thing to do.
The story carried the headline “Tinubu Prepares for Presidential Run, Dumps PDP, Mega Party Alliance”. The headline is remarkable in the fact that every bit of it is utterly wrong.
First, Asiwaju Tinubu is not gearing up for a presidential run. So there will not be any doubt about this core matter, we shall state Tinubu’s position clearly and unequivocally so that even THISDAYreporters cannot
misinterpret his position. As long as that patriotic and committed man named Muhammadu Buhari holds and seeks to hold the mantle as our president, then
Asiwaju Tinubu stands behind him in unwavering support and confidence.
Asiwaju Tinubu remains faithful to the mission of progressive reform and change that President Buhari, he and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have started.
Tinubu was instrumental in the formation and success of the APC. His toil and efforts helped establish this government. He is not one to tear down something he laboured so dutifully to build.
Instead of trying to convey the truth, the THISDAY report opted to gain false sensation by completely mocking the tenor of the brief banter Asiwaju Tinubu had with
journalists at the inauguration of Ondo State Governor OluwarotimiAkeredolu.
When asked about future political office, Asiwaju said he could not discount that possibility if the nation called upon him for
such service, provided, he emphasized, that all political conditions were appropriate;
particularly the office in question would have to be vacant, even if it’s local government chairmanship. In our political
lexicon, this means the office is not held by a member of the APC in good standing. We all know this.
Moreover, if you really listen to his words, Asiwaju did not mention any office or any time-frame. The conditions he mentioned may not become ripe for years to come and they might not pertain to the presidency. In effect, all Asiwaju said was the position that
any political figure would hold.
