Ya’u Darazo, senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on special duties, has defended Bola Tinubu, former Lagos state governor and presidential aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) over utterances credited to him that were perceived as insulting to his principal.
Darazo who said he was present in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, where Tinubu addressed APC faithfuls along with the Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun, stated that his statement was taken out of context to embarrass the party’s national leader and cause disaffection between him and President Buhari.
The presidential aide and member of the Tinubu campaign organisation in a statement said he was convinced that President Buhari can see through the mischief having been a victim of misresprentation and character assassination himself in the past.
He noted that the motive of those promoting the narrative that Tinubu insulted Buhari was to destroy the warm relationship between them.
“In the last 48 hours or so the media space has been polluted by the odious breath of mischief makers-nay ingrates? Who mispresented Asiwaju’s speech with the sole aim of planting discord between him and President Muhammadu Buhari. In their mischievous mind, that would earn them added advantage in the primaries for the Ticket of the APC.
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“I have a message for them. They have failed woefully. They should not take Nigerians for granted; Nigerians are wise enough. Let the mischief makers note that, good and purposeful leadership is not on the same page with mischief. It’s good that Nigerians know them early enough. It’s very clear that their purpose of seeking leadership is not service driven.
“I was with Asiwaju in Abeokuta among other good people of Ogun State when he delivered the speech in question. It was in Yoruba Language. It was later translated to me—which I found quite acceptable and politically relevant to audience and even beyond. Truth is Sacred. If the mischief makers think that by mispresenting Asiwaju’s Statement they will get the sympathy of the President; they have failed again—and failed woefully.”
“President Buhari is not a stranger to the bashing of media mischief. He is a veteran. He passed through it. He suffered from it like no other leader in this country. When he sees media mischief, he would know it; certainly, like this one against Asiwaju,” he stated.
Darazo recalled previous attempts in the past to unfairly misrepresent Buhari himself and damage him politically and appealed to the president who had been a victim not to be swayed by antics of mischief makers bent on undermining Tinubu’s ambition.
He said: “They are very active members of the PDP and are opposing all what President Buhari stood for. These powerful elements are said to have recruited agents within the APC to do two projects for them; ensure that APC produce a weak candidate that will give PDP a walkover.
“Secondly to ensure APC produce a Northern candidate so that they will turn round and accuse the President as a Northern irredentist who denied shift of power to the South.”
