Rule out automatic ticket for Buhari in 2019 —Tinubu

 

THE national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday, said there will be no automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 presidential election if the president chooses to seek second term in office.

 

Tinubu, who ruled out an automatic ticket for Buhari, however, said the constitution of the party accommodates the right of the president to seek the mandate of the party for re-election.

The APC national leader stated this in Akure, Ondo State capital, during a private visit to the leadership of the pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti, some 14 years after parting ways with the group.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting, he said the party will follow all the processes for the nomination of a candidate for any elective post, saying APC will always embrace internal democracy and will be transparent in the process.

According to him, all interested persons would be given a level-playing field to contest the 2019 presidential primaries of the party and said the governors who endorsed Buhari lacked the power to endorse the president as the sole candidate of the party.

Speaking on the endorsement of the president by some governors, Tinubu said: “I have not heard about that and the party spokesman has not said anything about that. No governor can appropriate the power of endorsement to themselves.

“Buhari is a believer of the process, and the Buhari I know believes in the rule of law. We wanted him even before the last convention and primaries 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.

“We follow all the constitutional provisions and an individual opinion does not matter at this stage, Buhari that I know will want a normal process.”

He waved aside the fear that the president was offered automatic ticket based on the believe that he may lose the ticket if other aspirants contend with him,  saying “who says he will lose at any convention, but if the national body, the NEC and all of us as members endorsed him as our single candidate, we will not be violating INEC regulations, and we will not be violating our party constitution.”

“What you are hearing is just a campaign. Buhari has not excluded anybody, and he has not affect ambition of anybody.”

Speaking on his visit, Tinubu said he was in Akure to pay homage to Fasonrati as one of the leaders of Yoruba and the leader of the Afenifere group, to acknowledge his leadership.

He said: “I am in Akure to acknowledge the leadership of Pa Fasoranti in our own race, as a great leader of the Omoluabi, we want him to be happy. He has been a great leader in his youth.

“His intellect is still very intact. We are here to seek his advise, understandings and prayers, that is why I am here.”

Speaking on why it took him so long to visit the leadership of Afenifere, he said “whatever is my decision is my decision and as an ordinary reporter, you cannot be asking me that. I decide on my time base on the charter of United Nations on Human Rights. I am a democrat and I believe in constitutional democracy. ”

The leader of the Afenifere group, Fasonrati, described the visit of Tinubu as a sign of good things to come to the Yoruba race, noting that the meeting will further foster great understanding among the Yoruba people and states.

Fasonrati said: “It is an indication of great things to come, the coming together of Yoruba leaders, there will be an understanding of major issues affecting Yoruba race. We will consult and move ahead.

“As it is now, there will be a great understanding among the leaders as Tinubu is a leader in his own right.

“This should lead to reconciliation ARG and the mainstream as Tinubu has a leg there. They are his supporters. This signal shows we will come together.”

It will be recalled that Tinubu and leadership of the Afenifere group parted ways before the 2003 elections over an alliance with the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which led to the sweeping of the South-West states, except Lagos State, by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in that election.

Also in the entourage of Tinubu included, the former interim National Chairman APC, Chief Bisi Akande, and the National Vice-Chairman (South-West), Chief Pius Akinyelure.

Members of the Afenifere group in attendance included Chief Olu Falae, Sehinde Arogbofa, Baba Omojola, Chief Arogbofa and Bakita Bello.