Former Lagos State governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of concocting interviews supposedly granted by him to discourage frequent defection of its members and chieftains.
Tinubu, who stated this in a statement made available to journalists by his media office yesterday, insisted that he never granted any interview where he said he is afraid that the PDP will stop Buhari in 2019.
The statement reads in part, “Once again, a claque of fiction and fantasy writers work to commit severe fraud against the body politic. The fiction factory, posing as newsroom, now thrives.
“In an article published in Post Nigeria online dated January 14 and titled “I am afraid PDP will stop Buhari in 2019 – Tinubu,” the writer, Amako Nneji, concocted the latest work of political deceit.
“The story falls in the genre of the hitman tactics of the politically desperate. Clearly, the schemers behind this are minions of the collapsing PDP. Their party is falling apart before our eyes, with multiple defections by the day. They fabricated this story to discourage further defections and to sow discord in the APC. However, the discord will remain where it belongs: the PDP.
“Tinubu has never publicly commented on the defections of people from the PDP, much less making derogatory remarks about the phenomenon. In fact, if you check, he has welcomed many former PDP members into the APC. Tinubu is a democrat and a progressive”.
He believes that the APC is and shall always be opened to those who share its progressive beliefs and who are committed to a better Nigeria. The more people of like minds gather, the stronger the party and the more likely it is to achieve the objective of building Nigeria anew.”
According to Tinubu’s media office, the writer of the fable tries to bring discord between Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari regarding 2019 election and the budget.
The statement added that,” The attempt will fail. President Buhari was elected less than a year ago. The challenges he inherited are many. We must all seek to help him do the great things he envisions. 2019 is such a long, far road away. Let 2019 take care of itself. Today presents enough challenges of its own. Those who want Nigeria to succeed should be more concerned with tackling the difficulties of today and not stirring up trouble based on what might happen tomorrow.
“For the record, Tinubu supports the government’s expansionary budget and has no qualms with its objectives and programs. For the writer to say Tinubu complained about the figures is to pile lie upon lie.
“Whosoever wrote the story is serpentine. But their venom will not hurt Tinubu, Buhari or the APC. They are like the mad snake that mediated its own demise by biting itself.
