Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed he deserved many thanks from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for saving his political career.
Recall that on Friday, Vice President Kashim Shettima stated that both Atiku Abubakar and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu once benefited from President Tinubu’s political support during their times of persecution.
Shettima mentioned that President Tinubu’s residence in Bourdillon served as a refuge for Atiku when he faced alleged harassment, intimidation, dehumanisation, and expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, reacting in a statement through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former vice president said Shettima “goofed” during the Friday inauguration of his new official residence when he made the claim.
He said, on the contrary, that it was Tinubu that gained from Turakin Adamawa’s goodwill.
According to the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, without his support, Tinubu’s political career could have ended as the governor of Lagos State.
“Vice President Kashim Shettima goofed when he claimed that former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, benefited from President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill when he was being “persecuted” in the PDP.
“Truth be told, it was Tinubu that actually benefited immensely from Atiku’s goodwill. But for Atiku’s support, hinged on his pro-democracy instincts and rule of law, Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos would have been rough, with a wide possibility of the termination of his political career.
“For some time, and especially leading up to the 2023 election, there has been a deliberate attempt to distort the history of the politics of the early 4th Republic by ascribing the AC, the political platform that Atiku ran in 2007 as Tinubu’s party.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. Vice President Shettima, obviously carried away with the euphoria of the unveiling of his official residence as Vice President, repeated the same lie.
“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but the Action Congress (AC). AC came out of a coalition of ACD (Advance Congress of Democrats), formed by mainly PDM members and other associates, and Tinubu’s faction of AD.”
He added that Tinubu was not in a position to lend the platform to Atiku “as erroneously being suggested, as he (Atiku) was nominated by all the delegates from all the states.”.
He went further to name the delegates to the primaries of the election that threw up the former Vice President as the party’s presidential candidate to include Atiku Abubakar himself, Lawal Keita, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Alexis Anielo, Titi Ajanaku, former Governor Rasheed Ladoja, Chief Tom Ikimi, and Chief Dapo Sarumi.
Others, he said, were Chief Sergeant Awuse, Alh. Lawan, Dr. Chris Ngige, Prof. Ango Abdulahi, Dr. Farouk Abdul Azeez, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Ejiofor Onyia, and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, among others.
