The chances of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, clinching the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) narrowed on Saturday, following the resolution of the National Chairman of the ruling party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, that he will face sanctions over his utterances in Ogun State.
The APC National Leader and presidential aspirant were involved in an outburst in Ogun when he visited the state to campaign to the delegates for votes ahead of the presidential primary scheduled for Monday.
Although Tinubu has apologised and retracted his outburst, the ruling party chairman however claimed that the apology was not enough, warning that he would be facing disciplinary action.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, specifically on the Ogun outburst, Adamu said: “He (Tinubu) 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.
“His utterances are very very insulting. It’s very 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 as 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 reportage and we condemn it in the strongest of terms. We do hope that he would never say that kind of thing 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,” he quipped.
Asked if there will be punitive measures against him, he replied: “At the time this event took place, the screening committee have not presented their report to us at all. And was trying to suggest that anybody was under any threat. So there was no justification for the time that this thing happened.
“This morning we saw some traces of withdrawal of those statements. You see these are statements that his intention of actual action. Yes, we can’t say we refuse not seeing on the papers. It happened. He said he has the greatest respect for the president. You see in Hausa there is a proverb that once you take hold of any amount of grass from a thatched house and you pulled it off from the roof, you can’t replace the same number of grass.
“What is out is out. What he did say was not an apology. It’s just like trying to retract and you say I didn’t mean this. It’s a problem of misinterpretation. It is not a regret. If there is the need to penalize any member of the party not just Bola Tinubu, anybody we will bring him to the party book. Anybody as we watch events as they unfold,” he warned.
The former governor of Nasarawa State also spoke on the status of the statutory delegates, stressing: “Serve notice of Appeal. Matter in court. Convention statutory delegates are excluded.”
On disqualified aspirants, he said: “I want to say very clearly that no aspirant has. been disqualified. It’s like sitting in an exam. Even if you pass there is grading from first-class to ordinary pass. So no aspirant was disqualified. Incidentally, the president has invited all of them to a dinner today.”
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