National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu has expressed high respect for President Muhammadu Buhari, coming after comments he insists were misinterpreted.
Tinubu in a statement her personally signed said blamed the backlash for his comments on entering the peak period of the primary season.
His campaign team, led by former Borno governor, Kashim Shettima have also come in his defence.
The Lagos governor in the statement released on Friday said, “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.”
He said, “There have been gross misinterpretations in some sectors 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 subtly language may have inadvertently yet erroneously missed the true meaning of what I said while attempting to translate my statement.”
Tinubu said instead of weighing what he said carefully, the media translated so quickly and thus inaccurately in an attempt to meet deadlines. He said there are also those who knew better but they conveyed these inaccuracies because the sensationalism suits their political purposes.
He said, “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.”
Tinubu said, “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. “
In Abeokuta, he said, “I spoke to the unwarranted attacks against my person that have been part of the campaign of others. I also recounted the history of the party for those whose memories need repair.
There are many who had no role in the birth of the APC and in its many victories. Now that the party has climbed the political summit, they want to claim credit for something they had no part in.”
“However, this cannot be said of President Buhari. I am proud of my role in the advent of the APC and its electoral successes. But President Buhari, of course, stands as the main driver of this success. He was elected president twice. He has borne the weight of national governance for seven years. Nothing can rival that.”
Also the Tinubu presidential campaign team yesterday moved in defence of the presidential aspirant, saying his remarks were misinterpreted by the media and were not meant to ridicule President Buhari.
A statement issued by director, Media and Communications, of the Bayo Onanuga, noted that media reports on Tinubu’s remarks were “erroneous, misleading and mischievous”, adding that what the former Lagos State governor said, which are already in the public domain, are facts which had been analysed for years.
He said Tinubu’s remarks were twisted by the opposition in the APC to discredit him.
Onanuga stated: “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 primary of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, addressed the national delegates of the party in Ogun State, with Governor Dapo Abiodun in attendance.
On the WhatsApp message posted by former secretary to government of the federation, Babachir Lawal, the Tinubu campaign team further said the presidential aspirant did not speak on tribal lines in Abeokuta.
Onanuga continued: “While we recognise that recent unexpected interventions in the timetable 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.
On his part, former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, and top campaigner for Tinubu’s presidential ambition yesterday declared that the former Lagos State governor will not step down from the race.
He expressed confidence that Tinubu will win the presidential primaries on Monday, noting that he has contested elections in the past in difficult circumstances.
He said Nigeria needs an experienced leader, who understands the dynamics of the country at this time.
Shettima maintained that the issue of stepping down does not arise, saying “he (Tinubu) is the elephant in the room,
“An elephant won’t step down for Lilliputians,” he stated, adding that Tinubu has paid the price to demand to succeed Buhari.
“He should be given the right of first refusal. He should not be excluded from expressing his fundamental human rights by contesting the primaries,” the former governor noted.
He said as much as nobody has doubted the competence of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a cerebral person, as far as intellect, capacity and reach to win the 2023 presidential election for APC is concerned, the best candidate is Tinubu.
“The dynamics have changed with Atiku’s emergence. We need someone who can match and overshadow him. That is why we are pushing Tinubu,” Shettima said, adding that the party has to be sensitive to the diversity of the nation with regards to making Senate President Ahmed Lawan to emerge the party candidate.
He said Lawan does not have the political capacity to beat Atiku in a presidential contest.
Reacting to Tinubu’s declaration that his support for Buhari made him president in 2015, the former Borno governor said, “Can anyone dispel what he has said?”
Meanwhile, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal has expressed disappointment in Tinubu over the comments he made about President Muhammadu Buhari and the north.
Lawal, in response to the comments by Tinubu made in Abeokuta, expressed shock and said the north may have to rethink support for a Tinubu and Yoruba presidency.
When Yorubas vilify the North like this, the former SGF said, “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.”
He 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.”
Lawal said Tinubu wasn’t the only one whose support made a difference and many others from all around the country and they are not bragging about it.
He said, “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.
Will Tinubu win Monday’s APC primaries without Northern support?
He said 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.
Lawal added, “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.”
