The National Leader of the All
progressives Congress , Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu , says he has no plan to contest
against President Muhammadu Buhari
or anybody that the APC may present
in 2019 .
Tinubu , therefore, dismissed, as false,
media reports that he was planning to
contest in 2019 .
The former governor of Lagos State
said this in a statement by his media
aide , Mr. Tunde Rahman, on Tuesday .
He said , “ This scam will fail . Asiwaju
supports and stands behind President
Buhari. He wishes the President well
and that he returns soon. Whether the
President is here or away , he has the
full loyalty of Asiwaju Tinubu .
President Buhari can rest assured on
this point : Asiwaju Tinubu will never
contest against him nor will he
support anyone who does. ”
Tinubu further slammed a national
newspaper (not The PUNCH), for
claiming that he abandoned his initial
plan of aligning with the opposition
Peoples Democratic Party to build a
mega party to take on the APC in 2019 .
He said he had never planned to join
the PDP , having fought against the
party for 16 years.
The statement added, “ The headline
also libels Asiwaju by asserting he was
going to join the PDP. 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. ”
The APC chieftain said his comments
during an interview with journalists at
the inauguration of Governor Rotimi
Akeredolu in Ondo State on Friday
were twisted and misconstrued by
those with hidden agenda .
Tinubu said he stated that he had
plans of running for office one day but
only on the condition that there was a
vacancy in Aso Rock .
He added, “ 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.
“ As a politician, he cannot preclude
the possibility of running for office in
the future because no man knows what
the future will hold. To translate this
general statement of political reality
into a tale that he is actively preparing
for a 2019 presidential run is reckless
in the extreme. ”
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