Bola Tinubu, a national
leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he is not responsible for a
viral quote describing President Muhammadu Buhari as a religious bigot and an
agent of destabilisation.
According to the content
being shared across social media platforms, in 2003, Tinubu, a former governor
of Lagos, described Buhari as “an agent of destabilization, ethnic bigot, and
religious fanatic”.
“Muhammadu Buhari is an
agent of destabilization, ethnic bigot, and religious fanatic who if given the
chance would ensure the disintegration of the country. His ethnocentrism would
jeopardize Nigeria’s national unity,” read the quote.
In 2003, Buhari contested
the presidential election under the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but lost
to former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
At the time, Tinubu, who
was seeking a re-election as governor of Lagos, ran under the platform of
Alliance for Democracy (AD) and won.
In a statement on Friday,
Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s media adviser, said the quote is fictitious, describing
it as “the handiwork of merchants of hate and fake news”.
He said the former
governor never made such statement about Buhari, appealing to the public to
ignore it.
Rahman challenged those
behind it to mention where Tinubu made the remark.
“This stuff has been
going round and circulating as if it’s of a fact. It is not. It’s the handiwork
of merchants of hate and fake news. Asiwaju Tinubu could not have said such of
then GMB,” the statement read.
“Let’s dissect it: Yes
Asiwaju and GMB as he then was were not in the same party in 2003. But they
were not on each other’s path to warrant any hard feelings in the first
instance. GMB was contesting for the presidency in 2003, Asiwaju was Lagos
governor seeking re-election which he got. GMB was contesting against President
Obasanjo.
“Truth is Asiwaju would
even wish that GMB defeated the dictatorial President Obasanjo who ruled the
country on his whims. Against a clear decision of the Supreme Court Obasanjo
seized Lagos allocation and did many unthinkable. Asiwaju would not descend so
low as to label anyone ethnic bigot or religious fanatic.
“These words are neither
of him nor relate to him in any way. The agents of darkness who are bent on
sowing seeds of discord at this time the nation is confronting challenges of
insecurity and religious extremism should tell us when he uttered those words.
“Where did he speak? Was
it a newspaper interview? Was it a public lecture? No source. No attribution.
The merchants of fake news just did a fantastic quote to cause mischief and
create discord. We should not allow them.”
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