“We have no fear… people are free to meet and strategise in anyway they want but, we are not going back to the illusion of the PDP.”
Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari met with National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.
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Clutching a book, Tinubu arrived the Presidential Villa, alone, at about 4:00 p.m.
The meeting came at a time Buhari is trying to put the party’s house in order, following the crisis which trailed APC primaries across the country.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after the meeting, Tinubu said: “The meeting is about the nation, the country, our people, peace, stability and economic progress.”
Asked whether he is jittery about the meeting the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, had in Dubai, he replied: “We have no fear, whether is in the jungle, or is in Dubai or is in Abu Dhabi, people are free to meet and strategise in anyway they want but, we are not going back to the illusion of the PDP.
“It is not possible. Nigerians will not do that. They say slow and steady wins the race; we inherited that from our forefathers and knowledgeable people. We can’t go back to the pit that we inherited for 16 years. They can strategise from anywhere but a leopard cannot change it skin.”
Again, asked if he was in support of plots to remove the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, he said: “No. We all have to respect party supremacy. You were all here when we had the congress. We elected the new executives, the convention we had it, the NEC was formed and we surrendered to avoid conflict, to avoid domination, to avoid abuses of power, we surrendered our rights, all rights to the National Working Committee (NWC) headed by Adams Oshiomohole. That the NWC should set up electoral bodies to supervise various state congresses and elections. We signed off for it. We gave three options, consensus, where there is no consensus, you go to the next level. The next level is the stakeholders delegate and you have to be supervised by the NWC of the party, national election committee of the party. That shows party supremacy or the freest option, the less cumbersome is to open direct primary, line up and count the number, 1,2,3. If you win, you win and if you fail, go home. Then, Appeal Committee was set up to listen to all appeals, internal mechanism for conflict resolution. It was there! You cannot turn round against that, you cannot turn against all of that.
“No. (The) Party is supreme, party must be respected, abuses will not do it and anger will not do it. It is party politics, somebody will win and somebody will lose; too bad.”
