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photo credited to elombah |
National leader of the All Progressives
Congress [APC], Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says the recent attacks on his
person were because he rejected the offer by President Goodluck Jonathan
to serve as the Vice President in an Interim National Government.
Tinubu said in a statement by his media office on Thursday.
He said Jonathan blamed him for the
successful merger of the APC and the momentum the APC presidential
candidate, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) was gaining.
The statement read, “With the election
less than three weeks away and the outcome possibly against them, the
Goodluck Jonathan Presidency and the hardliners in the PDP have embarked
on a new strategy to put a brake on the momentum Buhari seems to be
gathering.
“This strategy is novel and seems to be
the outcome of a desperate calculation in that the PDP has shifted its
attention from the APC in order to attack on multiple fronts the former
governor of Lagos State and APC national leader, Bola Tinubu.
“From what can be gathered through
informed sources, the PDP and Jonathan Presidency had recently tried to
fracture the APC by offering Tinubu the position of Vice President in an
interim government if he would agree to part company with the popular
Buhari.
“Once Tinubu rebuffed the offer to
participate in the interim scheme, the presidency decided to change
tactics. It would no longer try to entice Tinubu with sugar but would
now move to silence, and if necessary, neutralise him.
“The APC National leader has caused
President Jonathan’s team countless headaches this campaign season, his
declining the interim government offer is just the latest.
“The Jonathan government sees Tinubu as
the linchpin of the APC and its successful electoral strategy. They also
consider him one of the government’s most prolific and able critics due
to his long standing and often strident critiques of Jonathan
government policies, from economic development to national security.
“More to the point, they blame him as the man who is most responsible for placing them in their current electoral quandary.
They believe without Tinubu’s efforts,
the successful merger of the political parties into the APC would not
have occurred and they would not be facing possible defeat at the hands
of this new party.”
The former governor said the recent
televised hate documentaries were part of the desperate attempt by
Jonathan to discredit him.
The statement added, “The agenda to
tackle Bola Tinubu and weaken his political influence nationwide and to
undermine his leadership in South Western politics can be said to have
gone into the overdrive.
“The first part of the strategy is to
dredge previously discredited claims of illicit wealth in hopes of
silencing Tinubu or lessening his public image. However, they fear this
public relations attack may be too soft as Tinubu has been taken before
the ICPC and the case against him dismissed.
“If this attack does not deter his party
activities, the presidency and PDP are prepared to take more drastic
action if they believe it is necessary to win the election by throwing
the APC into disarray.”
But the Director of Media and Publicity
of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi
Fani-Kayode, has described all these allegations as baseless and false
Elombah News