The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has put a lie to a speculation that he may be picked by President Muhammadu Buhari as his running mate in 2019, describing the report as a “classic case of utterly and irredeemably-fake news.”
Tinubu, in a statement issued by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, said he and the people of the South West have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Prof Yemi Osinbajo is doing as Vice President of Nigeria.
A national daily, not LEADERSHIP, had reported, yesterday, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was considering returning to full church work and that Tinubu was being mooted as a replacement for him, “as a way to have a solid South West support for the APC in the face of a South East/South South alliance in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”
The statement reads, “The attention of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Office has been drawn to the front page lead story of The SUN newspaper of yesterday, December 13, 2017, which sensationally and ridiculously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari may pick Asiwaju Tinubu as his running mate for the 2019 election. This is a classic case of utterly and irredeemably fake news.
“There is no empirical or logical basis for this mischievously speculative story. Is it even conceivable, as the story recklessly insinuates, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would be considering returning to full church work rather than run with his boss, President Buhari for a second term if the latter so decides without as much as discussing such a sensitive issue with his party and with Asiwaju Tinubu?
“In any case, is this story not entirely unwarranted and indefensible as the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket has an electoral mandate of four years out of which it has spent only two and a half years?
“This is clearly an attempt to distract the APC Federal Government from the yeoman’s job it has been doing in rescuing the country from the deep rooted socio-economic, political, security and moral mess inherited from the PDP’s 16 years misrule of Nigeria, instigate crisis within the party, stoke dangerous embers of religious disaffection within the party and the country generally and stem the remarkable progress being made in the reinvention and revitalization of Nigeria.
“The SUN newspaper, through this kind of story, does great discredit to Nigerian journalism, which has made considerable strides towards greater professionalism and excellence over the years.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Asiwaju Tinubu has absolute confidence and faith in both President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo who have been working hard harmoniously in offering inspirational leadership to Nigeria at a most critical period in her history.
“The hemorrhaging of the national economy through the wanton and unprecedented corruption that obtained before the advent of the APC Federal Government has been stanched.”
