Former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu has in the strongest terms
rejected a report by news site, Sahara Reporters that he sold out the
defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and its presidential candidate
in the 2011 elections, Nuhu Ribadu to President Goodluck Jonathan and
his platform, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Tinubu, the
leader of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, had allegedly
met Jonathan behind closed-doors in Abuja, two nights before the last
general elections. He reportedly softened his stance to the
president’s election after he was informed of evidence that he is indeed
guilty of a perjury despite his denials.
In fact, a presidential jet was said to have conveyed him from Lagos to Abuja to see President Jonathan. Jonathan’s
Aide-de-Camp, alongside the then Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe were
alleged to had flown to Lagos in the jet that conveyed Jagaban, as he is
fondly called, to the seat of power, Aso Rock.
But Tinubu,
reacting to a Sahara Reporters publication “Threat of Perjury Trial: How
Jonathan Blackmailed Bola Tinubu before 2011 Presidential Election”,
said the unfolding smear campaign against him was no surprise. A
statement by his media office Tuesday night, said “It had been in the
works for years since the Jonathan-led government realized that Tinubu
commanded a powerful political followership. The successful merger and
birth of the APC posed the most potent threat to the PDP and Tinubu an
architect of the merger has become a marked man.”
Continuing, the lengthy rebuttal stated that “The thought of a
Buhari-Tinubu ticket confounds the PDP hierarchy and their
crisis-battered president. That Tinubu might be nominated as General
Buhari’s running mate also incenses the small element within the APC who
joined the party not for its progressive vision but to exploit its
platform to press forward their vision of themselves. “Having
failed at halting General Buhari’s bid, the PDP disinformation machine
has thrown itself into overdrive trying to stymie the selection of
Tinubu. Sadly, some elements within the APC – elevating their personal
ambition over party and national interests — have lent themselves to
this endeavor.
“During the Nazi takeover of Germany, madman Adolf
Hitler became jealous of those within his own party who showed
independent thought and who would not allow themselves to be bent just
so he could satisfy his megalomania. Outraged, he engineered a purge
executing the lot of them. This bloody scheme became known as the “night
of the long knives.” In Nigeria, we have entered the “season of the
wrong knives.” “The recent report on one of the online news
websites on the allegations bordering on his academic qualification is
not new. What is new is how desperate they have become to stir up a new
controversy using an old lie. In the past these allegations were
successfully rebutted.
Recent attempt to present them as fresh
allegations will not go unchallenged. “The online report,
published by Sahara Reporters, claims that Tinubu withdrew his support
for the ACN in the 2011 election due to blackmail by the president. It
is rather odd that this report colors Tinubu as the villain. If the
report were true, he would be a victim. President Jonathan and his
administration would be guilty of the high crime of extortion. This tiny
consideration seemed not to dawn on the authors of this scurrilous
piece; so fixated on stabbing Tinubu, they implicate their own boss in
wrongdoing. So eager to please their master, Jonathan’s mindless men
further ensnare him.
“If Tinubu had been scared off in 2011, it
would make no sense for him to spearhead the formation of the APC
against the same president. If the president had such control over
TInubu why didn’t the president use that leverage earlier to scuttle the
APC before it gained a strong position in the political space? The
story makes no logical sense. “The
particular accusations in the story further reveal the malice of mind
of those peddling it. They claim Tinubu did not attend Chicago State
University. They cite as their evidence a letter from the US Consulate.
But if you read the letter carefully, the surname stated is “TinubO” not
“TinubU.”
If the University did a computer check on that name, the
check would come up empty. The culprits likely misspelled the last name
so that the name search would reveal nothing. This is clever but
immoral; it is a wrong knife. “Meanwhile, Tinubu has genuine
documents and pictures showing him as an award-winning student at the
school. Nigeria should be proud that one of its own graduated an honor
student from an American university over thirty years ago when that was
more of a rarity than it is today. Instead, his detractors want to
pretend he never set foot on campus.
“As late as August 2012,
Tinubu visited the university and was given a special reception and a
tour by the school’s president. This would not have been done for a
stranger. It would have been done for a distinguished alumnus. “After
graduation, Tinubu landed jobs with two well established international
companies, one the accounting firm Deloitte and Touche and the other,
ExxonMobil. Such companies investigate an applicant’s academic
background. If he had not attended school, these companies would not
have hired him. He would not have excelled in them but he did.
“The
rumor about drug running is the lowest form of calumny. He has never
been arrested, charged or indicted for any drug-related crime. Had any
such suspicion existed, the American government would not have granted
him political asylum during the Abacha era. Under American law, asylum
cannot attach to anyone who has broken or offended that same law. “Moreover,
Tinubu travels frequently to the states. This means he has a visa.
American law prohibits visa issuance to anyone reasonably suspected of
drug dealing, let along being convicted of the same.
“If I were
Tinubu, I would place a wager with the PDP. He should offer to fly to
America if the PDP would also send Mr. Kashamu. Both can fly to Chicago.
Then he should bet the PDP who would return to Nigeria first. We all
know the answer. “There is a vicious campaign to deter Tinubu from
the APC ticket; this campaign is being run from the PDP’s basement.
They fear him. They cannot assail his competence and experience. He has
been an able senator and governor. They cannot assail his commitment to
democracy. He has personally sacrificed more for democracy than all the
PDP hierarchy combined. They fear his ability to campaign, to get out
the vote and to protect that vote, especially in the southwest because
they know that is the pivotal region where the election will likely be
won or lost.
“These assailants desperately try to scuttle Tinubu’s
potential candidacy. In that the truth offers them no solace, they
resort to lies. They seek to ambush the man under cover of innuendo and
untruth. But their aim is off and their knives are wrong. In the end,
what they use to injure him will turn to point against them. Such is the
outcome when one engages in malice. “Thus, they seek to prevent a
person who may be controversial yet he is perhaps Nigeria’s most able
and versatile politician, strategist and policy maker.
For perhaps the
most gifted politician of his time not to seek national office is a
luxury a nation in this dire circumstance can ill afford. In the end,
governance has little to do with religion, region or rumor. It has to do
with vision and competence. The wrong knives will never be able to cut
that truth.”
Post a Comment