Don’t Insult Osinbajo By Saying Tinubu Says He Has Forgiven Him – Osinbajo Support Movement

By Adesina Soyooye

The Support Movement of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has protested a statement credited to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to the effect that he had forgiven Osinbajo.

Tinubu was quoted on Wednesday, as saying that he had forgiven Osinbajo and was prepared to work with everybody, including all those who aspired to the APC Presidential ticket with him.

Vice President Osinbajo was one of the aspirants beaten by Tinubu to the ticket. Since then, given the controversy that surrounded Osinbajo’s aspiration just because he was the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice during Tinubu’s tenure as Governor, many think that their relationship has been frosty because Osinbajo dared contest when Tinubu was also contesting.

Addressing a group which claimed to be part of Osinbajo Support Movement, a couple of days ago in Kano, and which asked him to forgive the VP, Tinubu  said he had forgiven Osinbajo.

But in reaction to that, the main Osinbajo Support Movement, OSM, said it found any talk of forgiveness both provocative and insulting, and will not take it lightly.

The OSM in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Liberty Badmus, asked what wrong Osinbajo did in order to be forgiven, and said the group which Tinubu addressed in Kano was speaking for itself and not for OSM.

Said the Statement:

“While the OSM welcomes the need for the APC flagbearer and other Presidential aspirants to come together, the group rejects the use of the word “forgiveness” and the implications attached to it.

“We note just like the flagbearer stated that both the VP and himself have met, at least, twice since after the primaries, any attempt to take a revisionist perspective by insinuating that an offence had been committed because a sitting VP decided to run for the Office of President is an unmitigated insult, completely unnecessary and such narratives ought to be totally discouraged.

“We recall a meeting of APC Elders in the Southwest ahead of the Primaries where the aspirants had resolved the issue concluding that all the aspirants had the right to contest. It is the spirit of that meeting that should be maintained not a derogatory effort which undercuts the solidarity required to take both the flagbearer and the aspirants including the VP forward.

“Everyone who supported the Vice President has the right to support whoever they wish after the primary, and Vice President Osinbajo has made it clear that people are free to support the party’s candidate but no one should, however, ridicule us and our Principal by going to beg for forgiveness.

“Nigeria runs a democratic democracy, and approves anyone within the legal ambit of our laws (constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the APC constitution) to seek to be elected for President and other elective offices as so desired.

“For the umpteenth time, we state that His Excellency, the Vice President has not committed any crime or offended anyone by seeking to serve his country in the capacity of President.

“We wish to call on Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to face his campaign and ignore elements who want to benefit from him by regularly invoking Osinbajo.

“Osinbajo has since moved on and he is vigorously facing the task of nation building for which he was elected Vice President.”