The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari had nothing to do with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s statement.
Obasanjo had earlier in the day issued a statement criticizing President Buhari’s administration, emphasising that it had not been able to create the needed change to make life better for Nigerians.
Giving different reasons why Nigeria would not grow under Buhari’s administration, he said it was in the interest of the generality of Nigerians for him not to re-contest.
Also advancing Buhari’s health issue as an excuse, he said he needed to rest and not be allowed to be pushed on by politicians who were all out for their personal benefits.
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Barely a few hours after the release of the statement, Tinubu and another chieftain of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, held a meeting behind closed door with Buhari.
The meeting fuelled the suspicion that the politicians were at the Presidential Villa to discuss the development.
But denying the suspicion according to a statement by his media aide, Mr. Tunde Rahman, Tinubu said he was not aware of Obasanjo’s statement as at the time the meeting held.
The statement reads: “Today’s visit by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande to the Presidential Villa was scheduled last week.
“President Buhari periodically schedules talks with Asiwaju Tinubu and Baba Akande, as he does with other Nigerians and APC figures, to discuss substantive issues pertaining to the governance of the country and matters concerning the party.
“This visit was one such meeting. As such, the meeting had nothing to do with the statement of former President Obasanjo.
“It is totally unconnected. At the time of the meeting, Asiwaju Tinubu and Baba Akande were even unaware that President Obasanjo had released his statement.”
