A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has disclosed how he saved President Bola Tinubu from impeachment when the latter was the governor of Lagos State.
He said that if not for him, Mr Tinubu’s political career would have been dead.
He noted that, contrary to the false narratives being peddled by Vice President Kashim Shettima that both Mr Abubakar and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, once benefited from Mr Tinubu’s political support during their times of persecution, Mr Tinubu immensely benefited from his goodwill.
“He [Tinubu] has been a veritable sanctuary for victims of political witch-hunts. When Atiku Abubakar was harassed in the Peoples Democratic Party, it was Bourdillon he ran to for support, and it was in Bourdillon that he got the needed support and later contested for the presidency of this country,” Mr Shettima had said during the inauguration of the Vice Presidential Lodge on Thursday.
But reacting through a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, Mr Abubakar noted that Mr Shettima “goofed” in making such a statement.
He said: “But for Atiku’s support, hinged on his pro-democracy instincts and the rule of law, Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State would have been rough with a wide possibility of termination of his political career.
“For some time, and especially leading up to the 2023 election, there has been a deliberate attempt to distort the history of the politics of the early Fourth Republic by ascribing the AC, the political platform that Atiku ran in 2007, as Tinubu’s party.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. Vice President Shettima, obviously carried away with the euphoria of the unveiling of his official residence as Vice President, repeated the same lie.”
The statement urged Mr Shettima to avoid commenting on topics about which he had little or no knowledge.
“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria, but Action Congress. AC came out of a coalition of Advance Congress of Democrats, formed mainly by PDM members and other associates, and Tinubu’s faction of Alliance for Democracy
“Moreover, Tinubu was not in a position to lend the platform to Atiku as erroneously suggested, as he (Atiku) was nominated by all the delegates from all the states.
“The delegates to the primary of the election that threw up the former Vice President as the party’s presidential candidate included Atiku Abubakar himself, Lawal Keita, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, Alexis Anielo, Titi Ajanaku, ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja, Chief Tom Ikimi, and Chief Dapo Sarumi. Others were Chief Sergeant Awuse, Alh. Lawan, Dr Chris Ngige, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, Dr. Farouk Abdul Azeez, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Ejiofor Onyia, and Dr Iyorchia Ayu, among others.
“From the Tinubu’s Alliance for Democracy were Bola Tinubu, Chief Segun Osoba, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, and Chief Bisi Akande, among others,” Mr Ibe added.
