Buhari wouldn’t have been President without me – Tinubu brags

The pressure of clinching the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket may be settling on former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu, on Thursday, pulled all the punches he could muster to press home his place as a king maker in APC, when he met with party delegates in Ogun State, led by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun.

For the first time, Tinubu expressed his bragging right, making a categorical declaration that he led the political struggle that produced President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

“If not me that led the war front, Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again.

“But I went to his home in Katsina. I told him you would contest and win, but you won’t joke with the matters of the Yorubas.

“Since he has emerged, I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get contract,” he declared.

He also narrated how he nominated Prof Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate.

Tinubu, popularly referred to as ‘APC National Leader’, spoke at the presidential lodge in Abeokuta, the state capital, while addressing the delegates ahead of the party’s presidential primary election, next week Monday.

In his company were the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his Kano State counterpart, Umar Ganduje, former Borno State governor, Kasim Shettima among others.

Tinubu said he was making the revelations for the first time in Ogun State, home state of Osinbajo, one of his rivals for the APC presidential ticket.

READ: Tinubu ‘disowns’ Osinbajo after VP declares presidential ambition

According to the former Lagos State governor, Buhari had offered him a running mate ticket, but some political blocs within APC kicked against it while flagging the sensitive issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket.

The Asiwaju of Borgu also said when he was asked to submit three names for running mate, he gave Yemi Kadoso, Wale Edun and Yemi Osinbajo.

He added that he later settled for Osinbajo as running mate.

“You have not heard this from me before. This is the first place I am saying this,” Tinubu who addressed the delegates in Yoruba, according to Daily Trust, said.

He added: “This time, it’s Yoruba turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”

Tinubu also said without God and him, Governor Abiodun would not have emerged in 2019 election.

“Dapo that’s sitting down here, could he have become Governor without me? We were at the stadium; they tore all his posters. Even the party flag, they didn’t want to hand over it to him, I was the one who brought it.

“If he wants to meet God at the right place, he must know that without God and me, he would not have become Governor.”

Abiodun who had earlier declared his support for Osinbajo’s candidature, refused to endorse Tinubu.

He told Tinubu that delegates from the state would do “the right thing” at the convention. The governor described Tinubu as a political warrior, serial winner and strategist.