President Buhari And Tinubu Are Still Together - Presidency

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, has said that there is no rift between President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressive Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The president had backed the sack of APC National Working Committee (NWC) and appointment of a caretaker committee, chaired by Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, a decision rumoured to be targeted at reducing the influence of the Tinubu camp in the party.

In a statement on Saturday, Shehu said the decision to dissolve the APC NWC and appoint a caretaker committee was to save the party from collapse as party members scramble for its leadership.

Shehu, who accused the opposition of spreading the rumour that President Buhari and Tinubu are at loggerhead, said “The very essence of the requests put to the Emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by President Muhammadu Buhari, which were unanimously approved aim to pull back the party, faced with an existential crisis from the brink of collapse, follow the constitution and take everyone along.

“While this action has been widely accepted with great relief by lovers of democracy and the rank and file of the membership, we are concerned that political vulturism masquerading as “smart analysis” is selling the commentary that this is a Buhari-Tinubu “showdown.” Nothing can be farther from the truth.

Shehu added that President Buhari and Tinubu, who are the founding fathers of the ruling party, were inspired by democratic norms and national interest and their relationship remains strong.

“To put the records straight: In the formation of this great party and giving it leadership, President Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who are reckoned as the founding fathers of the APC are both inspired by democratic norms, national interest and not at all by partisan motivations. These are the qualities that have made them move past cynical distractions.

“They are in touch with one another. Their relationship remains as strong as ever and between the two of them, only they know how they manage their enviable relationship.

“Try as hard as they could, the opposition parties have used all their intellectuals and their supporters in the media to break this relationship and have failed. And they won’t.”