By Adesina Soyooye

For the second time in less than 24 hours, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, APC, has reached out to President Muhammadu Buhari to pledge his loyalty and make amends for the inexplicable tirade he launched on the President.

Two Press Statements has been issued for damage control, and to appease especially, Buhari’s supporters and loyalists who are outraged by Tinubu’s utterances.

In what has been described as signs of frustration and desperation, Tinubu descended on Buhari during his visit to Ogun State to hunt for delegates.

Addressing the delegates, Tinubu told them how, if not for him, Buhari would not have become the President. He said he was instrumental  to the 2015 victory of Buhari. For good measure, he reminded them that the President had contested three times and failed. He also reminded them that Buhari had said on National Television that he was through with contesting for the Presidential seat, until he intervened.

He also said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Ogun State Governor were his products.  But for him, he said, just like in Buhari’s case, they won’t be occupying their present positions.

Tinubu: “If not me that led the war front, Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. He contested first, second and third time, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again.

“But I went to his home in Katsina. I told him you would contest and win … This time, it is Yoruba turn and in Yoruba land, it’s my tenure.”

But Tinubu’s outburst has  caused an uproar, and has outraged not a few people, especially, in the North.

A die-hard Tinubu supporter and  former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, was so outraged that he dismissed Tinubu’s Outburst as “bullshit.” For the records, Lawal was one of those who purchased the Presidential Forms for Tinubu and was present to submit them on  completion.

In a statement, on Friday, an angry Lawal said:

“Sometimes it is very difficult to support a Yoruba person in national politics if you are not one. They have a way of making you regret your support because they eventually make you seem like a traitor to your own people. Now all these comments about Bola’s Yoruba presidency and his support of Buhari without which Buhari would not have been president is bullshit.”

Realising the damage that has been done, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, in a statement issued on Friday, signed by  Bayo Onanuga, said  Tinubu’s speech has been misinterpreted for mischief purposes.

“Tinubu’s speech in Abeokuta did not demonstrate any disrespect to President Buhari, for whom he has very high regard, and whose re-election campaign he chaired in 2019.

Seeing that the statement appeared nobody, Tinubu, in a second statement which he personally signed, pledged his unalloyed loyalty to Buhari. He noted that it was unthinkable that he would denigrate the leader of the party he is aspiring to be the next flag bearer.

Tinubu: “It makes no sense at all to do such an indelicate, unseemly thing.

“Let me also erase any doubt. My respect and regard for President Buhari as Commander-in-Chief of this nation and as a person are high and unfailing. I shall never denigrate him. I certainly did not do so in Abeokuta.”

Following is the full text of Tinubu’s statement titled: “I HAVE HIGH REGARD AND RESPECT FOR PRESIDENT BUHARI”

“We have entered the meat of primary season. Sensationalism and wilful inaccuracy tend to push aside truth during such moments. I make this statement so that truth and accuracy may have a chance. It is important that people truly know what I said and where I stand.

“Whatever view you have of me is within your right to make. But let it be based on truth and not on falsehood or reckless exaggeration.

There have been gross misinterpretations in some sections of the media regarding comments I made on Thursday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. To a degree, the erroneous interpretations may be somewhat innocent given that I spoke in Yoruba.

“Those who do not understand the nuances of this richly layered and subtle language may have inadvertently yet erroneously missed the true meaning of what I said while attempting to translate my statement. Instead of weighing what I said carefully, they translated so quickly and thus inaccurately in an attempt to meet media deadlines. Of course, there are also those who knew better but they conveyed these inaccuracies because the sensationalism suits their political purposes.

“Again, such propaganda and misinformation becomes daily fare in the heat of the political season. Let’s just state what needs to be stated. My opponents want to present a narrative that I made comments disrespectful of President Muhammadu Buhari in hopes that such a narrative would convince President Buhari to oppose my aspirations regarding the approaching primary. President Buhari is an experienced and accomplished leader.

“I do not believe he will be taken by the tricks of such people.

“Let me also erase any doubt. My respect and regard for President Buhari as Commander-in-Chief of this nation and as a person are high and unfailing. I shall never denigrate him. I certainly did not do so in Abeokuta. We have been political partners for a long time and I hope that partnership continues well into the future. I would do nothing to jeopardize it. I believe our party is the best hope for the nation to right itself.

“I believe I have a future role larger than the one I now have.  I also believe President Buhari has a continuing and important role to play even after his tenure as president is over.

Indeed, I consistently supported the president and his administration. Even when the administration has come under intense criticism, my feet have always been planted solidly in defence of the president.

“The President personally nominated me to coordinate his re-election campaign in 2019. He did this not because I opposed him or because I was indifferent. He did so, because I was firmly with him in 2015 and has stood firmly beside him ever since. When I publicly announced my aspiration to seek the party nomination for the upcoming presidential election, I stressed that my strategic objective was to build on the foundation laid by the Buhari administration.

“In fact, I believe I was the first aspirant to inform President Buhari of his presidential intention. It was a sign of the respect I have for him and his office. It is unthinkable that I would asperse the leader of the party for which I hope to be the next flag bearer. It makes no sense at all to do such an indelicate, unseemly thing.”

The APC Presidential Primaries will hold between June 6 and June 7.

The Party leadership is pushing for a consensus candidate. But according to the Chairman of the Screening Committee, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, all but one aspirant agreed to do that.

There is no price for correctly guessing who the aspirant is. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

By Akinwale Kasali

Under pressure and taken aback by reactions which followed his address to delegates in Ogun State, frontline Presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says that what he told the delegates in Ogun State has been misinterpreted.

Tinubu had told the delegates that but for him, President Muhammadu Buhari wouldn’t have become the President. He also told them how  Buhari failed three times, and on National Television, swore he would never contest again.

But not a few people have condemned Tinubu’s address where he also claimed he unstalled both Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.

Tinubu’s loyal friend and staunch supporter, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, slammed him for denigrating Buhari.

He also scolded Tinubu for claiming he alone installed Buhari, emphasising that it was the handiwork of many people across the country who, unlike Tinubu are not bragging about it. He dismissed Tinubu’s claims as “bullshit.”

But a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, on behalf of  Tinubu’s Campaign Organisation,  said “The campaign was surprised at the way the opposition and Tinubu’s traders had turned his statement to give an interpretation Tinubu did not mean, and did not say.”

On why Tinubu made the statement, the campaign office said it was ” In his effort to convince the party delegates to vote for him at the primaries, he went memory lane to provide specific instances when he brought his political clout and strategic skills to assist individuals, groups and tendencies in the party to gain political power”

In any case, the statement noted that what Tinubu said were not not new, and were already in the public domain.

“These factual references are already in the public realm. They have been reported and analysed in the media in the last eight years. They are therefore, matters of public knowledge”, the statement said.

The Statement reads:

APC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES: ERRONEOUS INTERPRETATION OF ASIWAJU’S PLEAS FOR LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

“The attention of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation has been drawn to the erroneous, misleading and mischievous interpretation of his  address in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State on Thursday.

“It is on record that the leading presidential aspirant in the forthcoming primaries of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu addressed the national delegates of the party in Ogun State , with  Governor Mr.Dapo Abiodun in attendance.

“In his effort to convince the party delegates to vote for him at the primaries, he went down memory lane to provide specific instances when he brought his political clout and strategic skills to assist individuals, groups and tendencies in the party to gain political power.

“These factual references are already in the public realm.

“They have been reported and analysed in the media in the last eight years.

“They are therefore, matters of public knowledge.

“While we recognise that recent unexpected interventions in the time table and the heat generated by the proximity of the event might have led to some anxiety, this campaign organisation believes that the main thrust of Asiwaju’s presentation, was that his huge contributions to the formation  and electoral success of the All Progressives Congress should count in his favour as a true party man who desires to be the flag bearer.

“There is also no doubt that the fresh conditions proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari  for the consideration of a presidential candidate of the party  made it necessary for Asiwaju to labour to convince the delegates that he fits the bill.

“The campaign was surprised at the way the opposition and Tinubu’s traducers had  turned his statement to give an interpretation Tinubu did not mean and did not say.

“At no time did Tinubu play any ethnic card or denigrate any ethnic  group.   That is surely out of his character, as Engineer David Babachir Lawal, attested  in his viral whatsApp statement.

“Tinubu’s speech in Abeokuta did not demonstrate any disrespect to President Buhari, for whom he has a very high regard, and whose re-election campaign he chaired in 2019.

“Since the video of the speech he delivered in Yoruba hit the social media, varied interpretations have been given to the speech, which in the main was about Governor Abiodun, who in the true tradition of Yoruba culture bowed to his leader after Tinubu’s short speech.

“The Tinubu campaign is not surprised why the opposition in the APC has decided to turn and twist the statement.

“The former Lagos governor, a great party man remains the man to beat at the party’s convention on Monday.

“We are least surprised that he is the target of well-calculated and most unkind virulent attacks

“The campaign organisation hereby appeals to the media to avoid over- sensationalising issues of facts and play its constitutional role of informing the electorate to make informed choices at the presidential primaries.”

By Gideon Njoku

“Tinubu’s boast of installing Buhari is bullsh.t – Babachir Lawal

The Presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is in trouble. Tinubu has talked himself into a self-destructive position. And, he is losing his supporters in the North.

One of them is his die-hard loyalist, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

In a statement he released on Friday, Lawal slammed Tinubu for ridiculing President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Ogun State.

Speaking while he was in Ogun State to Presidential delegates to the Presidential Primaries of the All Progressives Congress, Tinubu said that without him, Buhari wouldn’t have been President. He noted how Buhari failed three times, and said on National Television that he was no longer running, and reminded that it was him who convinced Buhari, and made him President.

Tinubu had said: “If not me that led the war front, Buhari would not have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he would not contest again.

“But I went to his home in Katsina, I told him you would contest and win, but ‘you would not joke with Yoruba matters.

“Since he has emerged, I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get a contract.

“This time, it’s the Yoruba’s turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”

But Lawal has faulted Tinubu’s claims and dismissed it as “buckshit”. Hev told Tinubu that Buhari’s ascendancy was a combination of the efforts of many people across the country, and not Tinubu’s exclusive. He wondered why Tinubu should boast about a project that was not his alone and take credit for it.

He said Tinubu’s public denigration of Buhari has sparked anger in the North. He also decried the seeming “Yorubanisation” of Tinubu’s aspiration and said  it makes those of them supporting him look like traitors.

Lawal: “Sometimes, it is very difficult to support a Yoruba person in National politics. They have a way of making you regret your support because they eventually make you seem like a traitor to your own people.”

Lawal’s strongly worded State reads in part:

“Sometimes it is very difficult to support a Yoruba person in national politics if you are not one.

“They have a way of making you regret your support because they eventually make you seem like a traitor to your own people.

“Now, all these comments about Bola’s Yoruba presidency and his support of Buhari without which Buhari would not have been president is bulshit.

“He wasn’t the only one whose support made a difference. There were many others from all around the country and they are not bragging about it.

“You may wish to know that all of us Buhari supporters are shocked and pissed off by Bola’s speech on this occasion. It is unlike him.

“And this speech is massively trending in the North and being given a negative connotation as you can well imagine. I first read it this morning on an Adamawa group platform and the anger is palpable and all round.

“You would think Yorubas will resist the temptation of joining in the northerners-bashing game at this very critical time – the primary election is only three days away. It is unfortunate that Bola himself chose to join in this bashing game – choosing to speak in the Yoruba language and in Yoruba land  in a manner that seems to denigrate Buhari. I could vividly imagine the discomfort of all the northerners sitting beside him on that podium.

“This appears to be the Abiola saga being replayed. Abiola won the election with majority Northern votes but they took the brunt of the post-election protests that followed.

“Just survey all the people that are doing more meaningful practical things to enthroned Bola as president and you will find that almost all are northerners while his kinsmen engage themselves social media activism and Northern bashing.

“When Yorubas vilify the North like this, our sense of fear and insecurity under a Yoruba presidency gets heightened and in the end, pushes us to  rethink  our support for not only Bola but any Yoruba as president for that matter.”

By Adesina Soyooye

The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has decently hit back at former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over what has been interpreted as a public humiliation of the Governor by Tinubu.

On a visit to Ogun State on Thursday, June 2, to hunt for delegates, Tinubu, a Presidential aspirant, in what looked and sounded like signs of desperation and frustration that the plum ticket could slip out of his hands, descended on President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and his host, Governor Abiodun.

Speaking to the delegates in Yoruba, Tinubu said he made the three men. Without him, he said, Buhari  wouldn’t have been the President. He reminded them of Buhari’s failures. He told them that that Buhari had failed three times, wept on National Television, and said he would never contest for the office of the President again. He said it took him to convince Buhari to contest, and that he was the one who installed him.

Taking on Osinbajo, he told his audience that he was the one who hand-picked him, and gave him to Buhari as his running mate. He said initially, Buhari had asked him, Tinubu, to run with him, but that the plan was scuttled by former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who was against a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Turning to Abiodun, he noted that he, Tinubu, had been serving the Yoruba in the past 25 years, and

then noted: “This one sitting here”, you couldn’t have been Governor  without me. He reminded the Governor of what happened on the day of the Primaries, how Abiodun’s posters were being pulled down.

Finally, he said it is the turn of the Yoruba to be President, but that turn remains his sole turn.

On Friday, Abiodun who sat through the humiliation, reacted to Tinubu. He decently, and indirectly called Tinubu an Emperor without mentioning Tinubu’s  name. He also noted that Ogun State is not a family enterprise but a public one.

Abiodun in a post: “I am not an Emperor by any chance and this is not my family inheritance. I am holding this position in trust for all the people of the State, and I have vowed to be fair, just and equitable and this is the solemn agreement  I made between the Almighty God and myself.”

Abiodun and Ogun State delegates had earlier pledged their votes to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, an Ogun State indigene, and a Presidential aspirant.