Why I Opposed Tinubu’s Ambition – Saraki Speaks Up

Dr Bukola Saraki, a former Senate President, has said he voted against a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket when the All Progressives Congress was consulting on who would be chosen as the then party’s candidate and running mate in 2014.

In a statement by the Head of his Media Office, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki responded to the recent remarks made by a presidential candidate and national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The PUNCH had reported that Tinubu, while on a consultation visit to the delegates in the state, had reeled out how he put the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, among others, in Nigeria’s political limelight.

Tinubu had said he went to Katsina, Buhari’s home state, to persuade the president to contest, and subsequently, supported him to win in 2015.

He also said he nominated the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, as Buhari’s running mate.

He said his opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket was in the interest of the multi-religious nature of the country, adding that it helped the APC to win the election in 2015.

He stressed that the decision of himself and other party chieftains to pick a Christian Vice President was not a move to sabotage Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

He also accused Tinubu of using covert and overt measures to undermine the 8th National Assembly and pitching the legislature against the executive, when Saraki was elected as the Senate President in 2015.

The statement read in part, “When I and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress in 2014 stood against having a Muslim-Muslim ticket, it was not a decision targeted at any individual or group but one taken in the national interest.

“Asiwaju knows this and he is just being mischievous by presenting this decision as something aimed at stopping his ambition.”