……. Denies any rift between himself and the president
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has leapt to the defence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘slow’ start to the governance and ‘change’ promised Nigerians.
Tinubu, who was a guest of Buhari during the breaking of Ramadan fast on Tuesday, also used the occasion to dismiss insinuations of a rift between him and the President while assuring President Buhari that the leadership of the party has faith in him and will continue to stand by him.
He said: “We are slow. Yes. We didn’t campaign to be fire-fighters. We campaigned to be planners. A laxity of 16 years cannot be cleaned up in 30 days.”
To his host, Tinubu said: “We have faith in you, your capacity, integrity and uprightness. We promise that we will continue to be with you and support you.”
On his part, President Buhari used to the occasion to thank APC leaders for coming together to wrest power from the People’s Democratic Party.
He said if everyone respected the nation’s constitution, most of the country’s problems would be a thing of the past while urging his party men to close ranks to give Nigerians the quality leadership they promised during electioneering.
Speaking with State House correspondents on the crisis rocking the APC, Tinubu said his position in the party demands that he should be cautious in handling the crisis.
He said: “That’s an area where I am very cautious of my position and my utterances. I still want to keep my side of interpretation and analysis to me to be able to achieve a resolution of the matter as quickly as possible.
“I am backing what the President has carefully enumerated and articulated to the party. The party is supreme. The party must have disciplined leaders and followers. The process must be respected because that is the confidence and the trust of the people.
“However, in every political environment, you expect conflict. That’s politics. And conflict resolution mechanism will be applied to resolve all problems. So, we are there. There’s is honour in every struggle, in every competition. There must be honour in victory too. I will stop there for now.”
Speaking further, Tinubu said so far, he has not made any demand that could possibly strain his relationship with the President.
He said: “I have no demands of the party. If you understand what party politics is all about and what leadership is all about, it’s about loyalty and commitment to the values that leadership believes in.
“I believe in what the President believes in and respect him and I stand firmly loyal to his cause. 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.”
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