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Tinubu Takes a Swipe at Buhari, Says He Made Him President after Three Losses
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A former Lagos State governor and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, openly stated how he masterminded the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as President in 2015.
The APC national leader made the remarks while addressing the Ogun State APC delegates at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta, saying that after losing 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections, Buhari vowed not to contest again, and he took it upon himself to travel to Katsina to persuade him to contest and subsequently supported him to win in 2015.
Tinubu also took a swipe at one of his fellow presidential aspirants in the APC, the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, saying he nominated him as Buhari’s running mate.
Tinubu said without him, Dapo Abiodun would not have been elected governor of Ogun State in 2019.
The national leader was accompanied by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo – Olu; his Kano counterpart, Umar Ganduje and former Borno State Governor, Kasim Shettima.
Buhari, who was Nigeria’s military Head of State between 1983 and 1984, first contested the Presidency on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party in 2003 and lost to the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2007, he lost to another PDP candidate, the late Umaru Yar’Adua. In 2011, he formed a new party, the Congress for Progressives Change, contested on its platform but lost to Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP.
In 2014, four political parties, the CPC, the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, merged to form the APC on whose platform Buhari contested and finally won 2015 the presidential election.However, there has been tension in the APC since Tuesday when the Buhari said he would pick his successor.
Also, there are indications that the party may settle for an aspirant picked by Buhari and may not go for an indirect primary at its convention starting on Monday.
One of Tinubu’s associates, James Falake, had in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday warned the party against adopting a consensus candidate, adding that aspirants should be allowed to test their strength through an indirect primary.
On Thursday, Tinubu, for the first time revealed how he assisted Buhari, Osinbajo and Abiodun to get their present posts.
Narrating the events that led to the choice of Osinbajo, Tinubu said Buhari wanted him to be his running mate, but a group in the party led by a former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, rose against him.
The former Lagos State governor stated after three defeats, the ex-head of state vowed not to contest the presidency again.
He said, “If not me that led the war front, Buhari would not have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he would not contest again.
“But I went to his home in Katsina, I told him you would contest and win, but ‘you would not joke with Yoruba matters.
“Since he has emerged, I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get a contract.
“This time, it’s the Yoruba’s turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”
Referring to Abiodun in his remarks, Tinubu said, “This one sitting behind me here, could not have become governor without me? We were at the stadium, they tore all his posters. Even the party flag, they didn’t want to hand over it to him, I was the one who brought it.
“If he wants to meet God at the right place, he must know that he would not have become governor without God and me.”
Tinubu said when the APC was formed he wanted to contest the presidency.
He added, “Buhari wanted me to be his Vice President. He said because the first time he contested, he picked (Chuba) Okadigbo; flamboyant, catholic, but Nigerians didn’t vote for him (Buhari). The second time, he picked another Igbo, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, Nigerians didn’t vote for him, that if he brought the Pope to run as his deputy, Nigerians would not vote for him, that ‘you, Bola Tinubu, you have six governors, you have never lost an election before, come and be my running mate.
“He knew all the calculations then favoured us. That was why he wanted me as his running mate, but I told him to let us build the party first. And when we finished building the party, we brought in people from the PDP. Saraki saw that those from the PDP would not get anything if Buhari, a Muslim becomes the President and me, also a Muslim becomes his deputy. He won’t become the Senate President and the Senate President could not also be a Muslim. That was how they started the campaign of calumny against me.
“And I told them that I had a candidate that is a Christian that I could nominate so that the party would not break. That was how I nominated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. I surrendered my right to him (Osinbajo).
“I was asked to submit three names, Yemi Cardozo, Wale Edun and Yemi Osinbajo, but I told them if I submitted three names, they would play a game. They may make it four and pick the fourth one. I gave them one name and that was Osinbajo.”
Speaking on why he is the best choice among other aspirants in the South-West, he said, “It is my time, I’m educated, I’m experienced. I have been serving you people for a long time,
bring me the presidency, it is my turn.
“When Atiku was being flogged out of the PDP by Obasanjo, he ran to me for help. I let him have the ticket. Nuhu Ribadu came to me and I backed him.
“If not for me that stood behind Buhari, he wouldn’t have become the president. He tried the first time, he failed, the second time, he failed, the third, he failed. He even wept on national television and vowed never to contest again but I went to meet him in Kaduna and told him he would run again and I will stand by him and he will win, but he must not joke with the Yoruba and he agreed.
“Since he became the President, I have never got ministerial slots; I didn’t collect any contract, I have never begged for anything from him, it is the turn of Yoruba, it is my turn.”
In his remarks, Abiodun who had earlier declared his support for Osinbajo’s candidature refused to endorse Tinubu.
He told Tinubu that delegates from the state would do “the right thing” at the convention.
Abiodun described Tinubu as a political warrior, serial winner and strategist.
When contacted on the telephone, Saraki’s Media Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated, “We are not making any comment.”
Also attempts to speak with a Spokesman of the President, Garba Shehu, proved abortive as he neither responded to repeated calls nor a text message on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, five governors of the APC on Thursday met Vice-President Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa.
The Punch
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde said Nigerians do not need “turn-by-turn nepotism”, arguing that voters should be free to decide who becomes the country’s next president in 2027.
The Oyo State governor spoke during the APM’s town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State.
Makinde asked: “How can someone say ‘Eemi lokan’ in a country like Nigeria? You were given the opportunity. If you recall the 1999 presidential election, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae, but the rest of Nigerians voted for Baba Obasanjo. So, this is not an issue that only the South-West can resolve; it is an issue we must address collectively as Nigerians.
“We do not want ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’, nor do we want a situation where people say, ‘I will vote for projects because it is my turn’. You will not finish those projects, and when it becomes someone else’s turn, they will do the same thing. We will end up with a Nigeria where we cannot get value for the resources belonging to Nigerians.
“The Reset Nigeria agenda is about building a country where infrastructure development supports economic growth and addresses the concerns of young people and women.
“Once we fix our economy, no zone will be left behind, and no demographic group will be left behind.”
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied saying the Federal government will introduce a fuel tax when the economy stabilises and income levels improve.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Oyedele said his remarks during an interview with ARISE News was misrepresented, insisting that a “fuel tax is not on the table.”
However, during the interview with Rotus Odiri, ARISE News Business Correspondent, on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Oyedele said the tax would come when income levels improve enough for Nigerians to accommodate it.
He said taxes account for between 20 and 80 percent of pump prices in some countries, while many African countries impose between six and 10 different taxes on fuel products.
He said introducing fuel tax while petrol was still subsidised would have been counterproductive because government would effectively be paying the tax itself.
According to him, imposing the tax immediately after removal of petrol subsidy would be insensitive to Nigerians.
“The objective should be that instead of trying to suppress prices, which hasn’t worked for us, it hasn’t worked for any country in the world, not one. Instead of trying to suppress prices, think about how to grow income faster than prices rise,” Oyedele said.
“That’s how you bring prosperity and grow the middle class and that is exactly what we are doing as led by Mr. President himself.
“At the appropriate time, when the economy has stabilizes and income level will be able to accommodate it, those taxes will come. Not because we want to impose taxes,” he added.
In his Tuesday post, the minister reiterated that introducing a fuel tax at this time would be insensitive following removal of petrol subsidy, describing reports that government will introduce the levy when the economy stabilises as “fake news.”
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Deputy Director of the Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Dele Momodu, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the most nationally formidable and experienced among the leading contenders for the 2027 presidential election.
Momodu said Atiku’s experience at the national level distinguishes him from President Bola Tinubu and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.
He stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, in Abeokuta.
“If you look at the antecedents of the three major candidates, between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, you will see that Atiku is the most experienced. He has managed our country at the highest level,” he said.
Momodu traced Atiku’s political journey to the 1992 Social Democratic Party (SDP), presidential primary where he contested against late MKO Abiola and stepped down for him.
He said Atiku accepted the outcome without crisis even after he was not picked as Abiola’s running mate, describing it as a mark of true democratic temperament.
“He is the only one who started from around 1992, contested the SDP primary against Abiola and stepped down with uncommon equanimity. He did not make any noise,” Momodu said.
He noted that Atiku was among the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and served as Vice-President from 1999 to 2007.
Comparing Atiku with Obi, Momodu argued that while Obi’s best was demonstrated in Anambra, Atiku’s was at the presidency level managing the national economy.
“Peter Obi has tried his best in Anambra, while Atiku’s best is at the level of vice president controlling the economy of Nigeria. The difference is clear. He has matured in experience and exposure,” he said.
Momodu also said President Tinubu’s experience was largely limited to Lagos.
“What I’m trying to say is that Tinubu’s experience was limited to Lagos, and that is why when he became president, he thought Nigeria was Lagos. And he has found out now that Nigeria is not Lagos,” he said.
He argued that the current economic hardship under the present administration did not show prosperity, insisting Atiku remained better positioned to lead the country.
“Well, we are yet to see that prosperity, and if yesterday would determine today and tomorrow, it is obvious that Tinubu should retire now and let someone else do it,” Momodu added.
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