Monday, June 10, 2024 - The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday, said contrary to the claims in circulation, President Bola Tinubu immensely benefited from his goodwill.
Atiku said but for him, Tinubu’s political
career might have been terminated while he was governor of Lagos State in the
early part of the Fourth Republic.
On Thursday, Vice President Kashim Shettima
stated that both Atiku and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, once
benefited from Tinubu’s political support during their times of persecution.
Shettima specifically said Tinubu’s
residence in Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos, served as a refuge for Atiku when he
faced harassment and expulsion from the PDP.
“He (Tinubu) has been a veritable sanctuary
for victims of political witch-hunts. When Atiku Abubakar was harassed in the
Peoples Democratic Party, it was Bourdillon he ran to for support and it was in
Bourdillon that he got the needed support and later contested for the
presidency of this country,” Shettima stated during the inauguration of the
Vice Presidential Lodge constructed by the Federal Capital Territory
Administration in Abuja.
Reacting through a statement by his Media
Adviser, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, Atiku said Shettima “goofed,” adding that “truth
be told, it was Tinubu that actually benefited immensely from Atiku’s
goodwill.”
The former vice president stated that
without his support, Tinubu would not have enjoyed his tenure as Lagos State
governor and might have been impeached.
He stated, “But for Atiku’s support, hinged on his
pro-democracy instincts and the rule of law, Tinubu’s tenure as governor of
Lagos State would have been rough with a wide possibility of termination of his
political career.
“For some time, and especially leading up
to the 2023 election, there has been a deliberate attempt to distort the
history of the politics of the early Fourth Republic by ascribing the AC, the
political platform that Atiku ran in 2007, as Tinubu’s party.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. Vice
President Shettima, obviously carried away with the euphoria of the unveiling
of his official residence as Vice President, repeated the same lie.”
Atiku urged Shettima to avoid commenting on
topics about which he had little or no knowledge.
“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku
did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria, but Action Congress. AC came
out of a coalition of Advance Congress of Democrats, formed mainly by PDM
members and other associates and Tinubu’s faction of Alliance for Democracy.
“Moreover, Tinubu was not in a position to
lend the platform to Atiku as erroneously suggested, as he (Atiku) was
nominated by all the delegates from all the states.
“The delegates to the primary of the
election that threw up the former Vice President as the party’s presidential
candidate included Atiku Abubakar himself, Lawal Keita, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Dr
Okwesilieze Nwodo, Alexis Anielo, Titi Ajanaku, ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja,
Chief Tom Ikimi, and Chief Dapo Sarumi. Others were Chief Sergeant Awuse,
Alh. Lawan, Dr Chris Ngige, Prof Ango Abdullahi, Dr Farouk Abdul Azeez, Chief
Audu Ogbeh, Chief Ejiofor Onyia, and Dr Iyorchia Ayu, among others.
“From the Tinubu’s Alliance for Democracy were Bola Tinubu,
Chief Segun Osoba, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, and Chief Bisi Akande, among
others,” the statement noted.
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