by Damilola Jagun
It is crunch time in this electioneering period and all the cards are being pulled out with feverish intensity.
In a time where accusations and counter-accusations have become norm, little hardly surprises anyone again.
National leader of the All Progressives Congress, in his latest dose of expose/shocker, claims that President Goodluck Jonathan offered him the post of Vice President in the interim government, in order to fragment and weaken the opposition party.
Tinubu made the revelation in a statement released by his media office on Thursday, March 12, alleging that Jonathan views him as key to the APC’s campaign, and as such, was looking for ways to eliminate him from the picture either by killing him or getting him arrested.
Read below Tinubu’s offering:
“With the election less than three weeks away and the outcome possibly against them, the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency and the hardliners in the PDP have embarked on a new strategy to put a brake on the momentum Buhari seems to be gathering. This strategy is novel and seems to be the outcome of a desperate calculation in that the PDP has shifted its attention from the APC in order to attack on multiple fronts the former governor of Lagos State and APC national leader, Bola Tinubu.”
“From what can be gathered through informed sources, the PDP and Jonathan Presidency had recently tried to fracture the APC by offering Tinubu the position of Vice President in an interim government if he would agree to part company with the popular Buhari.”
“Once Tinubu rebuffed the offer to participate in the interim scheme, the presidency decided to change tactics. It would no longer try to entice Tinubu with sugar but would now move to silence, and if necessary, neutralise him. The APC National leader has caused President Jonathan’s team countless headaches this campaign season, his declining the interim government offer is just the latest.”
“The Jonathan government sees Tinubu as the linchpin of the APC and its successful electoral strategy. They also consider him one of the government’s most prolific and able critics due to his long standing and often strident critiques of Jonathan government policies, from economic development to national security. More to the point, they blame him as the man who is most responsible for placing them in their current electoral quandary. They believe without Tinubu’s efforts, the successful merger of the political parties into the APC would not have occurred and they would not be facing possible defeat at the hands of this new party.”
“The agenda to tackle Bola Tinubu and weaken his political influence nationwide and to undermine his leadership in South Western politics can be said to have gone into the overdrive. The first part of the strategy is to dredge previously discredited claims of illicit wealth in hopes of silencing Tinubu or lessening his public image. However, they fear this public relations attack may be too soft as Tinubu has been taken before the ICPC and the case against him dismissed.”
“If this attack does not deter his party activities, the presidency and PDP are prepared to take more drastic action if they believe it is necessary to win the election by throwing the APC into disarray.”
