Jonathan Nwokpor
Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, has disclosed how he preserved President Bola Tinubu’s political career.
Atiku made this revelation in response to the commonly held perception that Tinubu saved him after he fell out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which ultimately led to him running for president in 2007 on the platform of the now-defunct Action Congress, AC.
The PDP presidential contender for 2023 claims that Tinubu’s political career might have ended as the governor of Lagos State in the absence of his backing.
The former vice president, via his media adviser Paul Ibe, issued a statement that read, “Vice President Kashim Shettima goofed when he claimed that former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar benefited from President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill when he was being “persecuted” in the PDP.
“Truth be told, it was Tinubu that actually benefited immensely from Atiku’s goodwill. But for Atiku’s support, hinged on his pro-democracy instincts and rule of law, Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos 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 4th 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.
“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but Action Congress (AC). AC came out of a coalition of ACD (Advance Congress of Democrats), formed by mainly PDM members and other associates and Tinubu’s faction of AD.”
He continued by saying that “as erroneously being suggested, as he (Atiku) was nominated by all the delegates from all the states,” Tinubu was in no position to offer Atiku the platform.
He listed the following people as delegates to the election that produced the party’s presidential candidate: Atiku Abubakar, Lawal Keita, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Alexis Anielo, Titi Ajanaku, Chief Tom Ikimi, Chief Dapo Sarumi, and former governor Rasheed Ladoja.
Dr. Chris Ngige, Chief Sergeant Awuse, Alh. He claimed that Lawan, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, Dr. Farouk Abdul Azeez, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Ejiofor Onyia, and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu were among the others.
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