Tinubu denies rift with Buhari

TINUBU

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday said there is no truth in reports that he has fallen apart with President Muhammadu Buhari because he could not get what he has demanded from the party.

He said contrary to the speculations, he remains loyal to the President.

Tinubu said this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after joining some All Progressives Congress chiefs for the breaking of Ramadan fast with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

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The APC chief added, “I have no demand on the party. If you understand what party politics and leadership are all about, they are about loyalty and commitment to the values that leadership believes in.

“I believe in what the President believes in. I respect him and I stand firmly loyal to his course.

“You can go to any length of speculation that you might want. I have not responded to all of that because I understand the President and the President understands me clearly.”

The former governor also broke his silence on the leadership crisis in the National Assembly, saying he backed the position of the party and the President on the matter.

While saying the party was supreme, Tinubu said leadership and followers must be disciplined.

Tinubu said, “That (the leadership crisis in the National Assembly) is an area where I am very cautious of my position and utterances. I still want to keep my side of interpretation or analysis to me to be able to achieve a resolution of the matter as quickly as possible.

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“I am backing all the President has carefully enumerated and articulated to the party. The party is supreme. The party must have disciplined leadership and followers.

“The party’s process must be respected because that is the confidence and the trust of the people.

“However, in every political environment, you expect conflict. That is politics. Convict resolution mechanism will be applied to resolve all the problems.

“There is honour in every struggle. In every competition or struggle, there must be honour in victory too.”

Tinubu added that the APC government would not repeat the mistakes made by the Peoples Democratic Party.

He said the party understood what Nigerians wanted because the mandate given the APC was because of its manifesto.

“We know PDP’s mistakes and we will not repeat them because we are not PDP.  We understand what Nigerians want. They gave this party a mandate because of our manifestos. We are pro-people and progressives.

“We understand the hope of Nigerians and we respect that hope and believe in their expectation,” he said.

Tinubu had earlier, during the breaking of fas, said those who were accusing Buhari of being slow, should know that the party did not campaign to be firefighters but to be meticulous planners.

He said the mess left behind by the PDP government could not be cleaned immediately, the same way a dirty latrine or 16 years could not be cleaned up in 30 days.

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