2019: No automatic ticket for Buhari, says Tinubu

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday declared that the party would follow the
normal democratic process in choosing its flagbearer in the 2019
Presidential Election.

He said the leadership of the party had not endorsed President
Muhammadu Buhari as its sole candidate for the forthcoming
presidential election.

His statement was against the recent endorsement of President
Muhammadu as the sole candidate of the APC for the 2019 election by
the APC governors.

Tinubu held a closed meeting with the leaders of the pan-Yoruba
socio-cultural organisation, the Afenifere, at the residence of the
leader of the organisation, Pa. Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo
State capital.

Tinubu, who was at the meeting with the Governor of Ondo State,
Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, his deputy, Mr. Agboola Ajayi and the Acting
Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Ade Ademehin, said Buhari was
a man who believed in normal democratic process and the rule of
law.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, he said, “No
governors can appropriate the power of endorsement to themselves.
Buhari is a believer in the process. The Buhari, I know, believes
in the rule of law. We wanted him even before the last convention
and primary of the party and Akeredolu is here standing with me, he
was not the governor then. He was one of the leading delegates that
voted properly and Buhari was a clear winner.

He added, “We followed all the constitutional provision and an
individual or group’s opinion does not really matter at this stage,
Buhari will want a normal process. Buhari that, I know, who says he
will lose at any convention? But if the national body, the NEC
(National Executive Committee) and all of us as members endorsed
him as our single candidate, we will not be violating INEC
regulations, we will not be violating our party constitution.

“What you are hearing is just a campaign by other people who
might like to do so. Buhari has not excluded anybody, and he has
not infringed on anybody’s ambition if there is. We can not be
sycophantic about it.”

On his meeting with the Afenifere leaders, the former governor
of Lagos State said he came to see Chief Fasoranti to seek his
advice and prayers as one of the leaders in Yorubaland.

“I am in Akure to acknowledge the leadership of Pa. Fasoranti as
a great leader of the Omoluwabis and we want him to be happy. He
has been a great leader in his youth days. His intellectual is
still very intact, to seek his advice, seek his understanding and
prayers, that is why I am here.”

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday declared that the party would follow the
normal democratic process in choosing its flagbearer in the 2019
Presidential Election.

He said the leadership of the party had not endorsed President
Muhammadu Buhari as its sole candidate for the forthcoming
presidential election.

His statement was against the recent endorsement of President
Muhammadu as the sole candidate of the APC for the 2019 election by
the APC governors.

Tinubu held a closed meeting with the leaders of the pan-Yoruba
socio-cultural organisation, the Afenifere, at the residence of the
leader of the organisation, Pa. Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo
State capital.

Tinubu, who was at the meeting with the Governor of Ondo State,
Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, his deputy, Mr. Agboola Ajayi and the Acting
Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Ade Ademehin, said Buhari was
a man who believed in normal democratic process and the rule of
law.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, he said, “No
governors can appropriate the power of endorsement to themselves.
Buhari is a believer in the process. The Buhari, I know, believes
in the rule of law. We wanted him even before the last convention
and primary of the party and Akeredolu is here standing with me, he
was not the governor then. He was one of the leading delegates that
voted properly and Buhari was a clear winner.

He added, “We followed all the constitutional provision and an
individual or group’s opinion does not really matter at this stage,
Buhari will want a normal process. Buhari that, I know, who says he
will lose at any convention? But if the national body, the NEC
(National Executive Committee) and all of us as members endorsed
him as our single candidate, we will not be violating INEC
regulations, we will not be violating our party constitution.

“What you are hearing is just a campaign by other people who
might like to do so. Buhari has not excluded anybody, and he has
not infringed on anybody’s ambition if there is. We can not be
sycophantic about it.”

On his meeting with the Afenifere leaders, the former governor
of Lagos State said he came to see Chief Fasoranti to seek his
advice and prayers as one of the leaders in Yorubaland.

“I am in Akure to acknowledge the leadership of Pa. Fasoranti as
a great leader of the Omoluwabis and we want him to be happy. He
has been a great leader in his youth days. His intellectual is
still very intact, to seek his advice, seek his understanding and
prayers, that is why I am here.”