The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has moved to assure President Muhammadu Buhari of his unalloyed loyalty.
Tinubu on Tuesday dismmissed insinuations of a growing rift between him and the president, saying that the leadership of the party has faith in the President and will continue to stand by him.
Tinubu was a guest of Buhari during the breaking of Ramadan fast.
He said, “We are slow.
“Yes.
“We didn’t campaign to be firefighters.
“We campaigned to be planners.
“A laxity of 16 years cannot be cleaned up in 30 days.”
To his host, Tinubu said:
“We have faith in you, your capacity, integrity and uprightness.
“We promise that we will continue to be with you and support you.”
President Buhari on his part used to the occasion to thank APC leaders for coming together to wrest power from the Peoples Democratic Party.
For him, rule of law is fundamental to country’s development: he said if everyone respected the nation’s constitution, most of the country’s problems would be a thing of the past.
The president enjoined members of the APC to close ranks to give Nigerians the quality leadership they promised during electioneering.
Speaking with State House Correspondents after a Ramadan Breakfast session Tuesday evening in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Tinubu affirmed that he is “firmly loyal” to Buhari’s cause.
“If you understand what party politics is all about and what leadership is all about, it’s about loyalty and commitment to the values that leadership believes in. I believe in what the president believes in and respect him, and I stand firmly loyal to his cause,”Tinubu said
He said he has not asked for anything that could strain his relationship with Buhari.
“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,” he said.
On reaction to the crisis in the National Assembly where Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker House of Reps respectively, he was reluctant to open up. It is widely believed that the situation at the National Assembly has caused much distrust between Him and the President, with the former interim Natioanl Chairman of the party, Bisi Akande, who is Tinubu’s alter ego, saying that the actions at the Assembly could be interpreted as a conspiracy against the Southwest.
Tinubu said,”That’s an area where I am very very cautious of my position and my utterances. I still want to keep my side of interpretation and analysis to me 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 leaders and followers.
“The process must be respected because that is the confidence and the thrust of the people.
“However, in every political environment, you expect conflict. That’s politics and conflict resolution mechanism will be applied to resolve all problems. So, we are there.
“There’s is honour in every struggle, in every competition. There must be honour in victory too. I will stop there for now.”
