Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has dismissed the threat posed by Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and president candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, Tinubu was asked if he is jittery about the strategy meeting convened by Atiku in Dubai, UAE, to unseat Buhari.
“We don’t fear. Whether it is in the jungle, or it is in Dubai or it is in Abu Dhabi, people are free to meet and strategise in anyway they want but we are not going back to the illusion of the PDP,” he replied.
“It is not possible, Nigerians will not do that. They say slow and steady wins the race. We inherited that from our forefathers and knowledgeable people. We can’t go back to the pit that we inherited for 16 years. They can strategise from anywhere but a leopard cannot change it skin.”
When asked if he is in support of the call for Oshiomhole’s removal, the former Lagos State Governor said, “No! We all have to respect party supremacy. You were all here when we had the congress. We elected the new executives. We had the convention and the NEC was formed.
“We surrendered to avoid conflict, domination, abuse of power. We surrendered our rights, all rights, to the National Working Committee headed by Adams Oshiomohole, that the NWC should set up electoral bodies to supervise various state congresses and elections. We signed off for it.
“So, if it is not in our individual favour, so be it. We gave three options: consensus. Where there is no consensus because you are more than two or three and you cannot agree to one candidate, you go to the next level.
“The next level is the stakeholders’ delegate and you have to be supervised by the National Working Committee of the party, national election committee of the party. That shows party supremacy.
“The freest option, the less cumbersome is direct primary; line up and count the number, 1,2,3. If you win, you win and if you fail, go home.
“Then appeal committee was set up to listen to all appeals, internal mechanism for conflict resolution. It was there, you cannot turn against that. You cannot turn against all of that. No!
“Party is supreme. Party must be respected. Abuses will not do it and anger will not do it. It is party politics, somebody will win and somebody will lose, too bad.”