A national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, has revealed how his former party, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), pressured its 2011 presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, from abandoning his nomination to support General Muhammadu Buhari, then a candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, national leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said it was the party that stood against Nuhu Ribadu’s many attempts to formally withdraw for Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential election under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
According to him, the ACN held back in its discussion with Buhari’s Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) because the latter 'wanted the skirt and the blouse', leaving the ACN with nothing, adding that despite the pressures on Ribadu by the ACN leadership, the man eventually stepped down for candidate Buhari.
The former Lagos state governor, said Ribadu faced a dilemma between contesting against a man he respected and the possibility of being viewed as working against the interest of the north on one hand, and betraying the ACN, on the other.
"It was like holding him hostage. Each time he wanted to announce his stepping down, we told him you accepted to run, you cannot withdraw now. But information kept leaking out that he had withdrawn," he said, explaining that the information getting out in the social media affected the prospects of the party at the April 2011 presidential poll.
Tinubu’s comments on Ribadu were in reaction to a question that he, as the national leader of the party, sold out the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). "Nuhu Ribadu is a plain gentleman; he was disciplined and had so much respect for Buhari. He wanted to withdraw but he did not want to disappoint our party," said Tinubu.
He rejected the notion that he was given money by the opposition to run a tepid presidential campaign for the ACN, saying money has never influenced his political direction, citing as example his pro-democracy stance in the 1990s despite his family’s closeness to former dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida.
Tinubu also explained how he drafted individuals, including the current Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to work with him as a governor of Lagos state.
Commenting on how he hunts for talents as exemplified in the array of technocrats and politicians he brought to limelight, he said he gives a lot of consideration to deciding on who to put where, and often look at the larger interests.
Tinubu admitted that though the choices were well considered on his part, they were sometimes opposed from within. However, he added, he often turns out vindicated, citing the example of his choice of Raji Fashola as governor of Lagos State.
Below is an excerpt of the interview:
Some people said that Nuhu Ribadu’s mandate was sold and that was why he did not win.
How much is it worth? They had already sent a message. Nuhu Ribadu’s position was ‘I am just holding forth’. Nuhu Ribadu is a plain gentleman; he was disciplined and had so much respect for Buhari. He wanted to withdraw but he did not want to disappoint our party. It was like holding him hostage. He did not want to damage himself in the North that he blocked the chance of Buhari becoming the president. Each time he wanted to announce his stepping down, we told him you accepted to run, you could not withdraw now.
But information kept leaking out that he had withdrawn. Don’t forget that social media was new then. That affected the whole thing. They did not even give us underpants not to talk of skirts. Do you want us to stand on the NITEL building without anything? Money wouldn’t have called my shot. My family and my mother were very close to Ibrahim Babangida and anything she said , I would have taken. But it did not play out. If I wanted appointment during the Ernest Shonekan regime, I would have got it. Money did not play a role. I have a track record. I ended up in detention; tried for treasonable felony which would have been death or life imprisonment, but I did not do that. I was gunning to become the Senate President but I gave that up and supported Dr. Iyiorcha Ayu, for us to reach a compromise.
No comments :
Post a Comment