The presidency said on Monday that contributions to the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president in 2015 should be be what should what should decide the choice of the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC or Nigeria’s next president.
The Presidency said this in obvious reaction to recent assertion by former Lagos governor and presidential aspirant of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the role he played in the emergence of the Buhari’s administration.
Tinubu had while addressing APC members in Ogun State tried to justify his demand for the APC presidential ticket with his contributions to the victory of Buhari in 2015.
The former Lagos governor had recalled how he convinced Buhari to re-contest the presidency and led the battle for his victory in 2015 after three failed attempts.
But while not mentioning the former Lagos governor’s name, the presidency, in a statement by the media aide of President Buhari acknowledged that many Nigerians contributed to the victory of the President in 2015.
But it said ultimately, the victory of the President was delivered by thousands and voted for by tens of millions and as such, no one can or should claim to have made the possible.
In anyway, the presidency said such contributions should be what should decide the next general election or the presidential candidate of APC, but policy ideas, drive and ability to build on Buhari’s legacy.
“The person most demonstrable in those qualities is the one to lead our party and our country forward,” the presidency said.
Read the full statement below
COMMENT ON THE STATEMENT MADE BY A LEADING APC FLAGBEARER CANDIDATE
“It is perhaps not surprising that on the eve of the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer primary there are those running as candidates who wish to associate themselves with the President’s rise to elected office seven years ago.
There are many people who played parts large and small in his historic election in 2015, making history as the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president with power changing hands peacefully at the ballot box.
There are those who advised the President to run again; those who decided to build a political party – the APC – that could finally be the political vehicle capable of delivering victory where all other opposition parties and alliances before it had failed.
Those decisions may have been agreed upon by a few. But they were delivered by thousands and voted for by tens of millions. No one can or should claim to have made the possible.
Yet as important as that moment was, it is not what should decide the next general election.
What matters is the future: the policy platforms, the ideas, the drive, and the determination to take over the President’s stewardship of our country and build upon his legacy to make our country better than it has ever been.
The person most demonstrable in those qualities is the one to lead our party and our country forward.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
June 06, 2022