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The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, yesterday moved fast to douse the anger created by the speech he delivered last Thursday while on a consultation visit to the delegates of the party in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during which he bragged about installing President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Dapo Abiodun.

On the same day, President Buhari returned to Abuja after a three-day state visit to Spain and shortly after met with a two-man delegation of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) led by its Chairman and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.

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In a statement he pushed out yesterday, Tinubu said his comments had been misinterpreted by the media and that he did not disrespect President Buhari.

The APC Presidential aspirant in the statement he signed declared that his respect and regard for Buhari as Commander-in- Chief of this nation, and as a person, are high and unfailing.

He said: “My respect and regard for President Buhari as Commander-in- chief of this nation and as a person are high and unfailing. I shall never denigrate him. I certainly did not do so in Abeokuta. We have been political partners for a long time and I hope that partnership continues well into the future. I would do nothing to jeopardize it. I believe our party is the best hope for the nation to right itself. I believe I have a future role larger than the one I now have.  I also believe President Buhari has a continuing and important role to play even after his tenure as president is over.

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“Indeed, I consistently supported the president and his administration. Even when the administration has come under intense criticism, my feet have always been planted solidly in defence of the president. The president personally nominated me to coordinate his re-election campaign in 2019. He did this not because I opposed him or because I was indifferent. He did so, because I was firmly with him in 2015 and has stood firmly beside him ever since.

“When I publicly announced my aspiration to seek the party nomination for the upcoming presidential election, I stressed that my strategic objective was to build on the foundation laid by the Buhari administration. In fact, I believe I was the first aspirant to inform President Buhari of this presidential intention. It was a sign of the respect I have for him and his office. It is unthinkable that I would aspire to be the leader of the party for which I hope to be the next flag bearer. It makes no sense at all to do such an indelicate, unseemly thing.

“I am proud of my role in the advent of the APC and its electoral successes. But President Buhari, of course, stands as the main driver of this success. He was elected president twice. He has borne the weight of national governance for seven years. Nothing can rival that. I would not dare belittle what he has done and what he has meant to the party and nation.”

Tinubu described Buhari as a Nigerian patriot and a man of integrity and that these qualities won him tremendous mass support leading to electoral victory in 2015 and 2019.

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He said: “I am proud to have been his partner in the political merger that became the APC and in making history by ousting an incumbent president for the first time in Nigeria.

“I make no apologies for seeking the party’s nomination. I believe I have something important to offer Nigeria that the other aspirants do not have, although I see them as good and committed Nigerians in their own rights. While I want this office, there are certain things I will not do and certain lines I shall not cross. I shall never belittle myself by denigrating the president or his office. I dare not seek an office and disrespect it at the same time.”

(Thisday)

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