Says.. Tinubu is after 2023 Presidential
race
+Why Tinubu is after me..
The
senate President Senator Bukola Saraki as reply national leader of All
Progressive Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that all Tinubu’s moves was for 2023 Presidential
Election. “He (Tinubu) expressed a strong opinion that he would rather ‘support
a Buhari on the hospital stretcher’ to get a second term because in 2023 it
will be the Turn of South west to produce President.
Read the details of his response:
The Tinubu Rhetoric:
My Response -by
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki-
I have always restrained from joining issues
in the media with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and this is based on my respect for
him. However, I will not allow him to create a wrong, false and mischievous
impression about the reasons for my decision to exit the All Progressives Congress
(APC) and present his prejudice as facts for public consumption. I have been
consistent in my complaints to all leaders of the APC, including Tinubu, that a
situation where the National Assembly is not constructively engaged or carried
along in key policy decisions, particularly those that will eventually require
legislative approval, is not in the best interest of the nation.
No
genuine leader of the legislature will be comfortable that the Presidency will
simply write a terse letter to the National Assembly on key issues which the
federal legislature is expected to later deliberate upon and give its approval.
The
Buhari administration consistently treats the legislature with contempt and
acts as if the lawmaking body should be an appendage of the Executive. To me,
this is unacceptable.
In
the same way, I find it very objectionable that many stakeholders who worked
strenuously to get the administration into office have now been excluded in the
government and not consulted on key decisions as necessary and expected.
In
fact, some of them are treated as pariahs. A party that ignores justice, equity
and inclusion as basic pre-conditions for peace, unity and stability cannot
sustain its membership and leadership. Let me redirect the attention of the
former Governor of Lagos State to the aspect of my July 31, 2018, statement
announcing my exit from APC in which I emphasized that the decision "has
been inescapably imposed on me by certain elements and forces within the APC
who have ensured that the minimum conditions for peace, cooperation, inclusion
and a general sense of belonging did not exist". In that statement, I
further noted that those APC elements "have done everything to ensure that
the basic rules of party administration, which should promote harmonious relations
among the various elements within the party were blatantly disregarded. All
governance principles which were required for a healthy functioning of the
party and the government were deliberately violated or undermined. And all
entreaties for justice, equity and fairness as basic precondition for peace and
unity, not only within the party, but also the country at large, were simply
ignored, or employed as additional pretext for further exclusion.
The
experience of my people and associates in the past three years is that they
have suffered alienation and have been treated as outsiders in their own party.
Thus, many have become disaffected and disenchanted. At the same time,
opportunities to seek redress and correct these anomalies were deliberately blocked
as a government-within-a-government had formed an impregnable wall and left in
the cold, everyone else who was not recognized as “one of us”. This is why my
people, like all self-respecting people would do, decided to seek accommodation
elsewhere". Tinubu himself will recall that during the various meetings he
had with me at the time he was pursuing reconciliation within the APC, I raised
all the above issues. I can also vividly recall that he himself always
expressed his displeasure with the style of the government and also mentioned
that he had equally suffered disrespect from the same government which we all
worked to put in office. I also made the point that whatever travails I have
gone through in the last three years belong to the past and will not shape my
decisions now and in the future. However, during those meetings, the point of
disagreement between Tinubu and I is that while I expressed my worries that
there is nothing on ground to assure me that the administrative style and
attitude would change in the next four years in a manner that will enable us to
deliver the positive changes we promised to our people, he (Tinubu) expressed a
strong opinion that he would rather 'support a Buhari on the hospital
stretcher' to get a second term because in 2023, power will shift to the
South-west. This viewpoint of Tinubu’s was not only expressed to me but to
several of my colleagues.
So
much for acting in national interest. It is clear that while my own decision is
based on protecting the collective national interest, Tinubu will rather live
with the identified inadequacies of the government for the sake of fulfilling
and preserving his presidential ambition in 2023. This new position of Tinubu
has only demonstrated inconsistency — particularly when one reviews his
antecedents over the years. Again, let me reiterate my position that my
uncertain and complex relationship with Tinubu has been continually defined by
the event of 2014 when myself and other leaders of the APC opposed the
Muslim-Muslim ticket arrangement about to be foisted on the APC for the 2015
polls. It should be noted that he has not forgotten the fact that I took the
bull by the horns and told him that in the interest of the country, he should
accept the need for the party to present a balanced ticket for the 2015 General
Elections in terms of religion and geo-political zones. Since that time he has
been very active; plotting at every point to undermine me, both within and
outside the National Assembly.
It is
a surprise to me that Asiwaju Tinubu is still peddling the falsehood about the
fact that my defection is about automatic ticket and sharing of resources.
Members of the public will recall that when the issue of my decision to quit
APC came to the fore and many APC leaders were holding meetings with me, a
newspaper owned by the same Tinubu published a false report about the promise
of automatic tickets, oil blocks and other benefits. I immediately rebutted
their claims and categorically stated that I never discussed any such personal
and pecuniary benefits with anybody. My challenge that anybody who has contrary
facts should come forward with them still remains open.
It should be known that Democracy is a system
that allows people to freely make their choices. It is my choice that I have
decided to join others to present a viable alternative platform for Nigerians
in the coming elections. Tinubu and leaders of the APC had better respect this
decision or lawfully deal with it. As for me, Allah gives power to whom He
wishes. Human beings can only aspire and strive to fulfill their aspirations.
Signed: Dr. Abubakar Bukola
Saraki, CON, President of the Senate.
