2015 elections: Expect my account soon —Tinubu

National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, has declared that he would set the accounts straight in his own upcoming book that would also reflect issues relating to the 2015 general election and other salient national issues.

Tinubu made this disclosure through one of his aides, Mr Tunde Rahman, at the public presentation of the book entitled: “Against the Run of Play”, written by former Special Assistant to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua, on Media, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday.

Rahman, said some of the things that had been written by various media houses based on extracts from the book, especially issues relating to the alleged loss of the vice presidential slot by Tinubu was far from being the true reflection of what the APC chieftain said.

He insisted that some media houses did not put things in the right perspective regarding the way they reported some of the statements attributed to Tinubu in the book.

“In some sections of the media, it was insinuated that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, lost the vice presidential slot to Professor Yemi Osibajo. But how could he have “lost” to Osinbajo, when it is generally known that he was the person who nominated the vice president in the first place.

Even Prof. Osinbajo himself had acknowledged that he owed his vice presidency to a ‘certain politician in Lagos’ and we all know that the ‘certain politician’ is Bola Tinubu. Therefore, to set the records straight and correct such wrong insinuations, he (Tinubu) would be coming up with his own book soon,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, the author of the book, Olusegun Adeniyi, was quick to state that he did not betray anybody’s interest in publishing the book.

He insisted that to ensure that he would not be seen to have betrayed any of those featured in the book, he had to interview some of them as much as twice or thrice and that he fully carried everyone along in what he exactly hoped to achieve.

Some of those interviewed in the making of the book included ex-presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as Senator Bola Tinubu, among others.

“In order not to be seen to have betrayed anybody, I had to ensure that I interviewed some of the principal characters more than once. They all gave the indication that they were okay with what I had done,” he said.

When giving insight into one of the reasons that inspired him to write such a book, which he said cost him about two years to complete, Adeniyi said it was born out of the need to know why only seven per cent of incumbent presidents lose elections, while the rest 97 per cent were assured of winning, a development he said was a global problem.

In his comments, former Head of State and chairman of the occasion, General Abdulsalami Abubakar,  commended the author for what he deemed a tireless effort put in place for two years in order to bring the book to fruition.

However, Abubakar lamented the poor attitude of journalists to writing of well researched and informative books, such as Adeniyi’s latest book, insisting that up till now no journalist had written any book on Boko Haram and the abduction of the Chibok girls which happened in the country some years ago.

“I encourage journalists to write about our country rather than putting it in the hands of foreigners, who often are biased in their reporting” Abubakar stated.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no end yet in sight for the debates, views, accusations and counter-accusations that have been trailing Olusegun Adeniyi’s book, “Against the Run of Play,” as its public presentation on Friday have added to the heat generated so far.

When previewing the 12-chapter book, which chronicles events and activities that led to “how an incumbent president was defeated in Nigeria,” the book reviewer and media practitioner, Dr Okey Okechukwu, said failure in key critical areas was the reason for the “political death” of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government.

Okechukwu who brisked over the 244-page book chapter by chapter, said the book would help students of history to learn how President Jonathan’s “ineptitude,” “cluelessness,” and “perfect scandalous show in government” played a major role in the loss he and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recorded in the 2015 general election.

He pointed out that as revealed in the book, the President Muhammadu Buhari’-All Progressive Congress (APC) did not necessarily win because it was better prepared, but simply because the Jonathan-government made it easy for it to happen.

“The book will aid students of history to know how deformed, inept, and perfectly scandalous the Jonathan-led government was. Many would see it as a government that was unfit for leadership and one that lacked human feelings,” he added.

However, former Special Assistant to President Jonathan on Media, Reuben Abati, when answering questions from newsmen, said though President Buhari, might currently be seen to be fighting corruption, the approach he had been using remained questionable.

Abati, who refused to comment on issues raised in the book which greatly indicted Jonathan whom he served for four years, because he hadn’t read the book yet, insisted that the current government must make effort to ensure that it’s anti-corruption fight was not one-sided.

“Every Nigerian is supportive of the fight against corruption, but the approach the government is using to achieve this remains questionable. From time to time people have raised questions that border on the selectivity of the fight against corruption,” he stated.

Abati’s view was shared by human rights activist and a member of the former Presidential Committee on National Dialogue, Tony Uranta, who insisted that the same corruption the Jonathan-led government was largely accused of in the book, still existed in the current government.

He said this was so because corruption was endemic in the Nigerian system, adding, “The last government tried to build a system to fight corruption. Currently, the fight against corruption is being done selectively, and this would lead to more problems. We must not stand for fascism or anything that is against the rule of law.”

But in his remarks, the special assistant to President Buhari on Media, congratulated the author for a job well-done, saying he (the author) was a trail blazer  in his chosen profession.

The event was attended largely by bigwigs in the media industry.

But other notable Nigerians who attended included ex-Minister of Communication, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, who is a relative of the author; former first lady of Cross River State,  Mrs Onaru Duke, who also performed the role of the book presenter; former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; former governor of old Bendel State, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who was represented by lawmaker representing Egor/Ikpoba-Okha Federal Constituency in the House, Hon. E.J. Agbonayinma, among others.