Buhari did not work against Tinubu’s emergence as president – Okechukwu

A founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has faulted the notion that former President Muhammadu Buhari was opposed to the emergence of Bola Tinubu as his successor in the buildup to the 2023 election.

Okechukwu, in a terse statement on Thursday in Abuja, described as a clear case of misinformation the claim by Senator Babafemi Ojudu that Buhari did not support President Tinubu, but was outsmarted by him.

Okechukwu, an acclaimed Buharist, said Ojudu’s so-called disclosure was less than factual.

The Enugu State-born politician, who served as the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) when Buhari held sway, gave a brief account of the politicking that transpired at the time.

He said: “Yes, there was split opinion on whether to support Tinubu or not, and Buhari sided with the camp led by then Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, quoting the Holy Quran that he cannot ditch the man who stood by him through thick and thin. Rather, let the delegates elect whoever is their choice at Eagle Square.”

Reminded that Ojudu was then the political adviser and knows the inner workings of Aso Villa more than him, Okechukwu maintained that there was division in Buhari’s kitchen cabinet immediately after the Screening Committee, headed by our former chairman of APC, His Excellency John Oyegun, submitted its report.

He recalled that the argument centered on whether some of the 23 presidential aspirants, including Tinubu, should be disqualified due to the plethora of allegations flying around.

He added: “The only truth in Ojudu’s statement is that Buhari didn’t mobilise for any of the 23 aspirants, not even for Senator Ahmed Lawan.

“Truly, if Buhari was in support of Lawan, he could have disclosed this to the APC Governors Forum, who prodded him serially to tell them who to vote for. It couldn’t have been the then national chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to inform only the National Working Committee. The Aso Villa is the arena for such important messages.”