The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has said his presidential ambition was not for personal interest, but his readiness to render “unflinching service” to Nigerians.

Tinubu said this known via a statement issued on Thursday by the Director, Media and Publicity, Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, in reaction to the Leader of the Yoruba Nation Self-Determination Struggle, Prof. Banji Akintoye’s statement, who had said Tinubu’s presidential ambition was personal and not for the welfare of the Yoruba people.

Akintoye added that the people of the South-West region of the country won’t vote for the APC presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.

Reacting, Onanuga who described Akintoye’s statement as “malicious and unwarranted”, said Tinubu is contesting for Nigeria’s presidency because of his readiness to serve the country and his abiding faith in “a strong, united, and prosperous Nigeria”.

He described the former governor of Lagos State as “a nationalist and a bridge builder”, adding that most of the issues around the structure of federalism raised in Akintoye’s statement have been “sufficiently” addressed in Tinubu’s manifesto, Action Plan.

The campaign spokesperson stated: “Our attention has been drawn to an unfortunate, misdirected, misplaced, and divisive statement credited to Professor Banji Akintoye, in which his group threatened to pull the South West out of Nigeria.

“To be candid, there are several agitation groups in the South West and in other parts of Nigeria who wrongly think the best way to demand for justice and fairness is through break-up of our country.

“And since there has been no referendum held in Yorubaland about whether to stay in Nigeria or not and no such referendum has been held in any part of Nigeria, it is then appropriate to assume that this separatist idea is basically Akintoye and his group’s sole idea.

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“We join other bonafide and critical stakeholders in Yorubaland to advise Professor Akintoye not to plunge our people into a needless and precipitate crisis or create another Rwanda.

“We find it quite preposterous the professor’s sweeping outlandish accusation that Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu is only pursuing his personal interest in running for the presidency of Nigeria. Such statement is malicious and unwarranted. It is pertinent to state that Asiwaju Tinubu is contesting for Nigeria’s presidency because of his readiness to render unflinching service to Nigerians and because of his abiding faith in a strong, united, and prosperous Nigeria where every man and woman, regardless of their ethnicity and religious beliefs, can be proud and prosperous.

“Most of the issues around the structure of our federalism raised in Professor Akintoye’s poorly thought-out statement have been sufficiently addressed in Asiwaju’s Action Plan with his promise to address some of the problems plaguing our federalism and the will to make the states to be more viable as federating units by devolving more powers to them.”

Onanuga further described as “untrue”, Akintoye’s claims that Tinubu has been campaigning with his old video, adding: “Asiwaju Tinubu and his campaign organisation have neither used such video nor need to use it in any form.

“Asiwaju Tinubu’s towering figure, intimidating credentials, unparalleled track record of achievements, his remarkable political sagacity, demonstrable managerial capacity, and nationally acclaimed transformative vision, knowledge, and courage all eloquently bear testimony to his qualification for the presidency of Nigeria.

“It is worth reiterating that Asiwaju Tinubu is contesting to be President of Nigeria because he is a nationalist, a bridge builder, and a man with a well-thought-out Action Plan to make Nigeria work for all.

“Tinubu is not a hopeless tribalist and definitely not delusional ethnic irredentist. Tinubu believes in Nigeria and its manifest great destiny and he is prepared to provide the required leadership to make our country one of the best nations on earth,” he added.

The Star