The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has hit back at the presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
The former vice president said he believed that Tinubu’s “memory may not be what it used to be.”
On that basis, Atiku said he won’t call Tinubu a liar over his denial that he lobbied to be the former’s running mate in the 2007 general election.
Atiku had, in an interview on Friday, said he rejected Tinubu’s request to be the vice-presidential candidate of the Action Congress in 2007.
The former Vice-President said he rejected Tinubu’s request to be his running mate to avoid having a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Responding, the APC National Leader said the PDP presidential standard-bearer asked him to be his running mate.
Tinubu further stated that Atiku was not among those who founded the Action Congress.
However, Atiku, in a statement issued by his media aide on Sunday, Paul Ibe, stated that Tinubu lobbied to be his running mate in 2007 and repeated the same in 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari vied for the presidency.
He stated: “The major accusation made by Asiwaju Tinubu is that the Waziri Adamawa offered him the opportunity of being his running mate in 2007, which means that the former Vice President was not then mindful of Nigeria’s religious and ethnic diversity, making his statements during the Arise TV interview hypocritical.
“We would not say that Bola Tinubu has lied. Rather, it is our desire to give him the benefit of the doubt, and believe that his memory may not be what it used to be.
“Nigerians may want to note that on 14 September 2005, the then US Consul General, Brian L. Browne, drafted a memo, leaked via Wikileaks, wherein he stated that Bola Tinubu was scheming to be a running mate to either Atiku Abubakar or Muhammadu Buhari.
READ ALSO: Tinubu to Atiku: You lied about your position on Muslim-Muslim ticket
“This is further historically corroborated by the subsequent political history of Nigeria. Biographers of President Muhammadu Buhari have variously recounted how Bola Tinubu made the same request of then presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
“In his 2016 authorised biography of President Muhammadu Buhari titled ‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria’, Professor John Paden, an American, wrote about the issue as follows: Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and political ‘godfather’ of the South-West geopolitical zone, felt he should be the vice-presidential candidate”.
“The above clearly shows a behavioural pattern here. So, if anyone is “unhinged from the truth” (to borrow Asiwaju Tinubu’s words), it certainly is not Atiku Abubakar.
“In any case, if Bola Tinubu can forget the name of his own political party, why will he not also forget what transpired in 2007 and 2015? We do sympathise with him.
“The fact remains that in a fragile and ethnically diverse nation, such as ours, religious and ethnic balance must be observed at the highest levels, and from there flow downwards.
“That is what Atiku Abubakar said during his interview with Arise TV on Thursday, July 21, 2022, and he stands on that principle and will continue to so stand without apology to anyone.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar’s memory and recollection of the event has been corroborated by multiple, independent, and unconnected third parties, and if this were a court of law, this issue would have been regarded as proved beyond reasonable doubt.
“We would also like to remind Nigerians that even though multiple sources have testified that Bola Tinubu desperately lobbied to be made Buhari’s deputy in a Muslim-Muslim ticket, Bola Tinubu himself denied this on June 22, 2022, and instead accused President Buhari of offering him the position of Vice President.
“Which is exactly the same false allegation he has made against Atiku Abubakar. This is a pattern of behaviour. Not owning up to his actions.
“Therefore, we hope this settles the matter, and that cordiality can be expected henceforth from the opposing camp,” the statement read.
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