An aspiring president and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tinubu Ballhe has said that he was instrumental in Muhammadu Buhari becoming president of Nigeria.
Tinubu spoke while meeting with Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, party leaders and delegates at the presidential lodge, Ibara, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.
Tinubu was in state to meet with APC delegates ahead of the party’s presidential primary next week.
“If it wasn’t for me supporting Buhari, he wouldn’t have become president,” said Tinubu, a former Lagos state governor.
“He tried the first time, he failed, the second time, he failed, the third time, he failed, he even cried on national TV and promised not to compete again, but I went to see him in Kaduna and told him he would run again. , I will be by your side and you will win, but you must not joke with the Yorubas and he agreed.
“Since he became president, I have never had ministerial appointments, I have not received any contract, I have never begged him for anything, it is Yoruba’s turn, it is my turn.”
Tinubu said he was also instrumental in Abiodun becoming governor of Ogun, as well as Yemi Osinbajo becoming vice president.
Abiodun had publicly supported Vice President Osinbajo, an indigenous man from Ogun state, who is also a presidential candidate.
“If the governor of Ogun state, Dapo Abiodun, is fair enough, he will confirm that if it were not for God and me, he would never become governor of this state,” Tinubu said.
“We were together at the MKO Abiola stadium, he was intimidated, they didn’t want to give him the match flag, I was the one who gave him the flag. He knows that he cannot be governor without God’s help and my support. I have been serving them for more than 25 years.”
Osinbajo as Vice President
On the role he played in Osinbajo’s vice presidency, Tinubu retold the story of how he was initially approached by Buhari to become his running mate before the 2015 election.
“From the time we started with the Action Congress (AC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now the All Progressives Congress (APC), I wanted to run for the presidency at that time,” he began.
“This is me telling you that between my life and Almighty God, Buhari called me to be his vice president. He said that because the first time he participated he chose Okadigbo, a flamboyant Catholic, but Nigerians did not vote for him.
“The second time, he chose another Igbo, Ume-Ezeoke, the Nigerians did not vote for him, he knows that even if he is going to bring the Pope to stand as his vice president, the Nigerians will not vote for him, so he said. I, Bola Tinubu, you have six governors, you have never lost an election before, come and be my vice.
“He knew that all the calculations back then favored us, that’s why he wanted me as his vice, but I told him to let us build the game first.
“And when we finished building the party after bringing in people from the PDP, Saraki knew that the PDP would get nothing if Buhari, a Muslim, becomes president and I, also a Muslim, become his vice president, he knew he would win. Not getting the president of the senate because the president of the senate cannot also be a muslim, that’s how they started the smear campaign against me.
“I told them that I have a candidate who is a Christian that I can nominate so that the party does not break up, so I appointed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. I gave my right to him (Osinbajo).”
Message to delegates
Mr. Tinubu told the delegates that he is the best choice to represent the APC in the presidential elections and said that he has a wealth of experience.
“It is my time, I am educated, I have experience. I have been serving you for a long time, bring me the presidency, bring it, it’s my turn, ”she said.
“When Atiku was being kicked out of the PDP by Obasanjo, he ran to me for help, I left him the ticket. Nuhu Ribadu came to me and I supported him.
In Mr. Tinubu’s entourage were Kano State Governor Abdullahi Gantuve and his Lagos State counterpart Babajide Sanwo-Olu, former Borno State Governor Kassim Shettima, as well as Lagos State President Dr. Mudashiru Obasa.
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