Saraki Reacts To Tinubu's 2015 Alleged Stoppage Of Muslim-Muslim Presidential Tickets, Gives Reasons

 

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A former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has said he voted against a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket when the All Progressives Congress was consulting on who would be chosen as the then party’s candidate and running mate in 2014.

In a statement by the Head of his Media Office, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki responded to the recent remarks made by a presidential candidate and national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Tinubu, while on a consultation visit to the delegates in the state, had reeled out how he put the President, Muhammadu Buhari, the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, among others, in Nigeria’s political limelight.

Tinubu had said he went to Katsina, Buhari’s home state, to persuade the president to contest, and subsequently, supported him to win in 2015.

Meanwhile, Saraki, in a statement, said, “When I and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress in 2014 stood against having a Muslim-Muslim ticket, it was not a decision targeted at any individual or group but one taken in the national interest.

“Asiwaju knows this and he is just being mischievous by presenting this decision as something aimed at stopping his ambition.”

Meanwhile, leaders of major socio-political organisations in the northern and southern regions criticised Tinubu, over his recent statements regarding his aspiration to be president in 2023.

The spokesperson for the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, described Tinubu’s action as a show of desperation, which he said, was unbecoming of a politician seeking to lead a people.

“What Tinubu just did is one such desperation that is unbecoming of a politician seeking to lead a people. On the whole, we, like many other concerned citizens, are disappointed by this outburst by Tinubu,” Suleiman said.

Also, the spokesperson for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said Tinubu was being used by the political class to create division between the South-East and the South-West.

“At this point, he is supposed to begin to help to galvanise the South to create southern unity and checkmate the northern emasculation of both the South-West and South-East.”