My Speech Not An Attack On Buhari, North – Tinubu

As condemnation and criticism continue to trail his speech in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Thursday, frontline aspirant for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu has said he did not attack President Muhammadu Buhari or the North.

He clarified that his speech was not disrespectful to Buhari or the North but it was laying bare his contribution to the party which should count in his favour.

A statement signed by the Director, Media and Communications, Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday said, no time did Tinubu play any ethnic card or denigrate any ethnic group as being alleged.

Tinubu had among other things said it “was Yoruba’s turn, it’s my turn” to be president, while wooing delegates in Abeokuta.

He also told his audience that he was instrumental to the emergence of Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.

But he has come under attack especially in the manner he presented the matter with many accusing him of a sense of entitlement.

But his statement Friday evening downplayed the development, saying, “We are least surprised that he is the target of well-calculated and most unkind virulent attacks.”

He described the former Lagos governor as a great party man and remains the man to beat at the party’s convention on Monday.

“In his effort to convince the party delegates to vote for him at the primaries, he went down memory lane to provide specific instances when he brought his political clout and strategic skills to assist individuals, groups and tendencies in the party to gain political power.

“These factual references are already in the public realm. They have been reported and analysed in the media in the last eight years. They are therefore matters of public knowledge,” he said.