– Tinubu, a former governor, allegedly says he wants to concentrate his efforts on the south west
– The national leader accuses Bukola Saraki of selling the APC’s mandate to the PDP for a pot of porridge
The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has reportedly declined an offer to lead the national campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 presidential elections across the states.
It was learnt that the former governor declared total support for the president and his re-election bid, but said he wanted to focus his attention on the south west.
Daily Independent reports that Tinubu already has Lagos and Osun and was working ‘to consolidate his stronghold in Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo states’.
The report quoted a source as saying: “Tinubu has politely rejected the request to lead President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign for the 2019 elections. Rather, he has chosen to focus his attention more on the south west.
“We don’t really know the reason for this but we have feelers that he seems unsure of what the fate of APC may be in the presidential elections and as such wants to secure his base in the south west first.
“I also heard that he wants to concentrate his efforts on assisting his candidates. In Ogun, Governor Amosun has withdrawn support for Dapo Abiodun, who is Tinubu’s loyalist.
“He will also be actively involved in trying to retain Lagos for APC especially given the fact that Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the party’s candidate is contesting against a Jimi Agbaje, who is an experienced politician.”
Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s media aide reportedly promised to get back with a response when he was contacted.
The response did not come.
Meanwhile, Tinubu attacked the president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, saying the former governor sold the mandate of the APC for a pot of porridge. Daily Trust reports that Tinubu said this at an event in Abuja organized by the National Consultative Forum (NCF).
“Saraki used our mandate to give lifeline to the opposition. Leadership is about character. He left PDP, joined us, got elected and sold our mandate for a pot of porridge. God is honest, Saraki is not.
“They said we should not talk about the past. We must look at what you have done before. We have to look at the Halliburton issue. Why do they leave Nigeria? $16billion on NEPA for darkness…When they see that we are kicking them out, they rush to privatise the company, what I call personalisation of the wealth of Nigerians,” he said.
Meanwhile, MeeRayCool Gossip earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar said that he is convinced beyond any doubt that he would defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates in 2019.
