No plan to quit APC, says Tinubu

Rumours that All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council Co-Chair Asiwaju Bola Tinubu plans  to quit the ruling party were dismissed yesterday.

The APC chieftain’s Media Adviser Tunde Rahman said Tinubu remained unshaken in the ruling party.

The clarification put to rest speculations that the former Lagos State governor was through with the APC because of the disruption of the presidential campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Monday.

The rumour followed a video clip showing Asiwaju Tinubu at the APC Presidential Campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State,  throwing the party’s flag to National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had latched on to the clip and interpreted it to mean that the APC leader threw away the party.

Rahman explained that Asiwaju was passing the flag on to Oshiomhole for presentation to the party’s governorship candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

In the statement, Rahman said the claim that Tinubu threw away the party was false.

He said: “Asiwaju remains gidigba (solid) in the governing party.”

The statement reads: “If you want to fault Asiwaju for anything in this matter, your critique can only be limited to the accuracy of his toss. Any attempt to enlarge the episode beyond this is fiction and mischief writ large.”

Agreeing that an incident did occur at the Ogun State APC rally, Rahman said it was not what the PDP concocted.

He said: “The true incident that should be reported and condemned is that people who furtively oppose the party and the President tried to infiltrate and disrupt this rally. “The attack by these operatives was disrespectful of the office of the President and could have potentially harmed the person of the president.

“With but a few precious days until the election and with its chance of victory running out even faster than the time, the PDP now grasps at the most nonsensical and desperate tactics to salvage its falling enterprise.

“However, a drowning man cannot toss himself a lifeline. Nor can the PDP succeed in turning the innocuous attempted exchange of a flag between the national leader and national chairman into a rift in the APC’s successful campaign.

“Such antics have no place in our political discourse. The author of these misdeeds should desist before real harm is done. Now to the crux of the opposition’s latest antics, if the issue of the flag has become the hotspot of the PDP campaign, then they are in serious trouble.

“During that portion of the Ogun rally, the national chairman and others were looking for a party flag. Asiwaju Tinubu spotted one within his reach. He picked it up and attempted to toss it to Oshiomhole so that the chairman could present it to the party’s gubernatorial candidate Prince Abiodun.

“If you want to fault Asiwaju for anything in this matter, your critique can only be limited to the accuracy of his toss. Any attempt to enlarge the episode beyond this is fiction and mischief writ large.

“As the National Leader, Asiwaju Tinubu is thoroughly faithful and committed to the APC. It is unthinkable that he would leave the party. Moreover, there is no reason for him to do so. He has been hard at work for the victory of the APC and all of its candidates in the upcoming election.

“Asiwaju understands the bigger picture. He knows what is at stake in this election. Either the nation moves forward along the progressive path of the APC or it will be forced to retreat into the ills of the past created by the PDP. With the nation’s future hanging in the balance, Asiwaju will not allow himself to be deterred by petty mischief.”

The statement advised those spinning the matter to make better use of their imaginations.

It stressed: “Asiwaju is not going anywhere. He remains gidigba (solid) in APC. And after the election, he will be there celebrating the APC’s and this nation’s victory over those who would prevent us our rightful future.”