Abdullahi Adamu, national chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), says the utterances of Bola Tinubu, a presidential hopeful,
about President Muhammadu Buhari were “insulting”.
He said the remarks show that Tinubu does not have any
“appreciable level of respect” for the office of the president, and he may be
punished if deemed necessary.
While addressing delegates in Abeokuta, on Thursday, Tinubu
had said without him, Buhari would not have won the presidential election in
2015.
The comment sparked varied reactions from Nigerians on the
circumstances surrounding the 2015 elections.
However, Tinubu’s campaign organisation said the APC
chieftain’s remarks were not meant to disrespect the president.
Speaking with journalists at the APC headquarters in Abuja,
on Saturday, Adamu said though Tinubu’s campaign organisation tried to clarify
his statement, the retraction is not enough and lacks sincerity.
“He went as far as saying how Gen. Muhammadu Buhari went to
him, citing instances of even prostrating in tears begging him to endorse him
and to support him for the presidency. He claimed Buhari went to him,” he said.
“His utterances are
very very insulting. It’s very unbecoming for a person of that standing to do
what he did to the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the
president produced by the votes of the APC.
“Though he is the president, he belongs to everybody. It is
amazing how a fellow APC person would make that kind of comment in that kind of
circumstances about the president. We take exception to this. It has shown that
he does not show any appreciable level of respect for the office of Mr
President.
“Therefore we want to make it public that we are saddened by
what we saw in the video, in that reportàge and we condemn it in the strongest
of terms.
“We do hope that he would never say that kind of again,
particularly of the APC extraction to make such kinds of comments.
“Yes, yesterday we
saw some part of a retraction but that effort is not adequate. It is not
sincere. It is not in-depth enough. It doesn’t wipe out the impression that
that event has left in our minds.”
Asked if Tinubu will be punished for his utterances, Adamu
said as of the time Tinubu spoke, the APC presidential primary screening panel
had not presented its report.
“At the time this event took place, the screening committee
have not presented their report to us at all. And was not trying to suggest
that anybody was under any threat. So there was no justification for the time
that this thing happened,” he said.
“If there is the need to penalise any member of the party,
not just Bola Tinubu, we will bring him to the party’s book. Anybody, as we
watch events as they unfold.”
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