All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has refuted claims that he is in Kano, meddling in the supplementary elections in the state, insisting that he is a committed democrat and advocate of free and fair electoral processes.
In a statement late Tuesday by his Media Adviser, Tunde Rahman, the APC leader explained that the picture of him and Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the APC governorship candidate of Kano, in circulation was taken last year when the governor visited Lagos.
He said those peddling the rumour know the picture is not true, but “they still use it because their relationship to the truth is an adversarial one.”
The statement reads: “Weak and mean politicians turn to rumor and fear mongering because their true appeal to the people is limited and uncertain. These desperate operatives stir resentment of others as a way to get the support of the people. Politicians of this ilk are afraid to stand before the people on their own two feet.
“They use lies and deception as their crutch. Such is the case with the false stories of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu being in Kano, casting him as some type of one-man political invasion intending to unduly influence the governorship election.
“For the record, Asiwaju is not in Kano and has not been in Kano at any point during the conduct of these elections. The picture that these liars are circulating of Asiwaju and Governor Ganduje is one that was taken last year when the governor visited Lagos.”
According to him, “These people encouraged and cheered when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and outgoing Senate President Bukola Saraki led a team of Peoples Democratic Party figures into Lagos, boasting they were going to “capture Lagos” during the governorship elections.
“These people did not call Atiku and others to order for interfering in Lagos. Instead, they urged Atiku and others to undertake this misadventure.
“The All Progressives Congress did not cry and lament that Atiku came to Lagos to swing an election that did not concern him. Instead, we rose to the occasion and relied on our organic and positive relationship to the people.
“With regard to the impact these PDP operatives had in the Lagos election, let it be said that they came, they saw, they lost and they left with nothing in hand but another defeat.”
Tinubu maintains that he said he will neither support nor work to promote anything that will undermine or weaken the electoral system.