National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, has said he has no plans to leave the party after the ugly incidents at the party’s presidential campaign rally in Ogun State on Monday.
Tinubu, was seen on video throwing the party’s flag to national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole which many interpreted to mean rejection of the partyy.
But he said in a statement on Tuesday he simply wanted it given to the APC governorship candidate in the state, Dapo Abiodun.
Tinubu said he has no plan of leaving the ruling party, and that the Ogun state incident was being framed by opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to mean he was throwing away the party’s flag.
In a statement on Tuesday night by his spokesman, Tunde Rahman, Tinubu denied throwing away the party’s flag as being insinuated by PDP.
What happened at the rally which was marred by violence was not as “concocted” by the PDP, he said.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun is believed to have engineered violence at the rally in order to campaign against Abiodun, who defeated his anointed candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, in the Ogun APC governorship primary.
The statement said: “The true incident that should be reported and condemned is that people who furtively oppose the party and the president tried to infiltrate and disrupt this rally. The attack by these operatives was disrespectful of the office of the president and could have potentially harmed the person of the president.
“Such antics have no place in our political discourse. The author of these misdeeds should desist before real harm is done.
“Now to the crux of the opposition’s latest antics. If the issue of the flag has become the hotspot of the PDP campaign, then they are in serious trouble.
“During that portion of the Ogun rally, the National Chairman and others were looking for a party flag. Asiwaju Tinubu spotted one within his reach. He picked it up and attempted to toss it to Chairman Oshiomhole so that the Chairman could present it to the party’s gubernatorial candidate Prince Dapo Abiodun. If you want to fault Asiwaju for anything in this matter, your critique can only be limited to the accuracy of his toss. Any attempt to enlarge the episode beyond this is fiction and mischief writ large.
“As the National Leader, Asiwaju Tinubu is thoroughly faithful and committed to the APC. It is unthinkable that he would leave the party. Moreover, there is no reason for him to do so. He has been hard at work for the victory of the APC and all of its candidates in the upcoming election.
“Asiwaju understands the bigger picture. He knows what is at stake in this election. Either the nation moves forward along the progressive path of the APC or it will be forced to retreat into the ills of the past created by the PDP. With the nation’s future hanging in the balance, Asiwaju will not allow himself to be deterred by petty mischief.
“Those spinning this matter should make better use of their imaginations. Asiwaju is not going anywhere. He remains gidigba (solid) in APC. And after the election, he will be there celebrating the APC’s and this nation’s victory over those who would prevent us our rightful future.”