Former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, debunked reports that he has fallen apart with President Muhammadu Buhari because he could not get what he demanded from the party.
Tinubu denied the reports in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after joining some All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders for the breaking of Ramadan fast with the President.
Tinubu said he was careful and restrained talking about the crisis in the APC over the leadership positions in the National Assembly, but stressed that he was all for party supremacy, as both leaders and followers must imbibe discipline for the party to succeed.
On that score he pointed out that having noticed and understood the mistakes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC would not repeat those errors but deliver on its manifesto and bring prosperity to Nigerians.
“That is an area where I am very cautious of my position and my utterances. I still want to keep my side of the interpretation or analysis to be able to achieve a resolution of the matter as quickly as possible.
“I am backing what the President has carefully enumerated and articulated to the party. The party is supreme. The party must have disciplined leadership and followers. The party’s process must be respected because that is the confidence and the trust of the people.
“However in every environment, we should expect conflict, that is politics, and conflict resolution mechanism would be applied to resolve all the problems.
“There is honour in every struggle and every competition, there must be honour in victory too,” he said.
On speculation of a rift between him and Buhari because of some demands, Tinubu said, “I have no demands of the party. If you understand what party politics and leadership is all about, it is about loyalty and commitment to the values, which the leadership beliefs in.
“I believe in what the President believes in, I respect him and I stand firmly loyal to his cause.
“So, you can go to any length of speculation that you might want, I have not responded to all of that because I understand the President and the President understands me clearly.”
