All Progressives Congress
National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo
State is his partner, not rival and that his intervention in Oyo APC is to
engender genuine reconciliation not to hide or supplant the governor.
The APC leader was reacting to a report that Tinubu was moving to ban Governor
Ajimobil from leading APC campaigns in Oyo and bringing back to the party’s
fold, former governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.
Tinubu
described Governor Ajimobi as an excellent governor and a faithful member of
the APC
“He has brought progress to the state and in serving two consecutive terms,
Ajimobi made history in Oyo. He is instrumental to anything the APC can achieve
in Oyo”, he said.
A
statement on Monday by Tinubu’s Media Adviser, Tunde Rahman, said Asiwaju was
only lending his support to the governor and APC’s efforts in the state.
It
reads: “The report titled “Tinubu Bans Ajimobi from Appearing at APC
Governorship Rallies” is another of SaharaReporters’ excursions into falsehood.
The report claims that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu somehow has banned Governor Abiola
Ajimobi from attending APC campaigns for Saturday’s governorship election in
Oyo State.
“This report goes beyond a lie. It is a vindictive attempt to sow discord
because the writer is angered by the APC’s success in the presidential
election. Thus, the writer has cast truth aside in his angry desire to inflict
some kind of electoral wound on the APC. However, the writer should refrain
from this path of falsehood. It would be better for the writer to come to grips
with reality and to accept the fact of the APC presidential victory and the
likelihood of APC victories in most governorship elections, including that of
Oyo.
“The
mischief that SaharaReporters cites is not between Tinubu and Ajimobi. It is
solely in the mind of SaharaReporters. By its unsubstantiated report, the
medium seeks to set brother against brother. Asiwaju and Governor Ajimobi have
been political brothers and allies for a long time. Their friendship existed
long before SaharaReporters came to the scene and will endure long after this
self-diminishing online site is no more.
“Moreover,
Governor Ajimobi has been an excellent governor and a faithful member of the
APC. He has brought progress to the state and in serving two consecutive terms,
Ajimobi made history in Oyo. He is instrumental to anything the APC can achieve
in Oyo. The truth is that Asiwaju is not trying to supplant or hide the
governor. Instead, Asiwaju is lending his support to the governor’s and APC’s efforts
in the state. They are partners not rivals.
“As such, he has held strategic meetings with some notable groups and important
individuals. The heart of the discussions was the need for all to come together
to achieve victory for APC in the March 9 governorship poll. At no time did the
issue of banning anybody, talk less of Governor Ajimobi, enter into the
discussions. We want and need Governor Ajimobi to be a visible figure at the
forefront of this campaign during these final decisive days. He will prove
pivotal to our hope for victory in the state.
“SaharaReporters betrayed its abject bias with this report.
It makes absolutely no sense to even try to stop a sitting governor from
campaigning in that governor’s state. Such a move would only create enmity and
hinder, not help a campaign. For SaharaReporters to claim this is to claim that
Asiwaju is a political novice. Asiwaju has never barred anyone from
participating in a campaign. Why would he now start with Ajimobi in Ajimobi’s
own state?
“In addition to not having such a negative inclination,
Asiwaju wields no such power and has no desire to have such power. Ajimobi is a
sitting governor who can travel his state as he pleases. Who can dare stop him?
We want him in and at the rallies. Asiwaju’s intervention in Oyo was to
engender genuine reconciliation. To exclude this good and able governor would
have aborted this mission before it started.
“Asiwaju views Governor Ajimobi as highly disciplined and a committed and
respected party leader, unlike some others who have no respect for party
supremacy. The relationship between them remains solid and loyal. And one
hundred false reports by one hundred SaharaReporters cannot change that
reality”.
