Buhari, Tinubu & APC Leadership are Bunch of Hypocrites – Presidency

The presidency has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and particularly its leadership comprising Major General Muhammadu Buhari and former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, of double standards and being inconsistent on national issues.

In a paper titled, “Nigeria in 2014: Facts Versus Fiction”, written by the Special Assistant to the President, New Media, Mr. Reno Omokri, the presidency described the opposition and its leadership as a bunch of “hypocrites” who would stop at nothing to “secure political power by whatever means necessary”.

Omokri recalled that on December 18, 2013, several newspapers had carried the statement from APC which called on President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter on the grounds that the allegations contained in the letter warranted a response.

However, he expressed surprise that after the president did exactly what the APC had recommended, it changed its tune and on December 26, the party berated Jonathan’s response to Obasanjo’s letter.

According to the presidential aide, the example above showed that APC stood for nothing and was only against action or utterance of the president.

In another instance, he said: “Senator Bola Tinubu had been one of the most vociferous champions for the convocation of a National Conference. He had championed this cause for years and many had come to think of the idea as his pet project.

“At the first Anthony Enahoro Memorial Lecture in Benin City, Edo State which held on November 24, 2011, Bola Tinubu had said ‘I submit to you today that because of the multiple issues surrounding our skewed federalism and constitutional flaws, the Nigerian nation is weak...

‘The 21-member Presidential Committee on the Review of Outstanding Constitutional Issues (PCROCI) recently set up by President Goodluck Jonathan falls short. It is a backdoor approach to the issue of national conference. In memory of Chief Enahoro we must convoke a national conference.’

“But when on October 1, 2013, President Jonathan listened to the cries of Nigerians and decided to convoke the very National Conference that Bola Tinubu advocated, the Asiwaju made a characteristic 360 degree turn and went on attack mode saying on October 6, 2013: ‘The national conference is by whom, for whom, and at what stage? How many levels of deception? I see a contradiction. I see diversion. I see deception, lack of honesty and integrity’.”

Another instance pointed out by Omokri was Tinubu’s irreconcilable flip-flop as far of Obasanjo was concerned, stating: “On March 25, 2013, after a birthday party that was reported in the media to have cost N1 billion, Bola Tinubu gave an interview to The Sun Newspaper and said,

‘There are so many news items that are seriously more newsworthy than to be looking for Obasanjo’s congratulatory messages in the newspaper. A man who had great opportunity to put Nigeria on the right path and failed to do so; failed to do even the Ota road, not Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

‘What am I celebrating about him? That’s the truth. He deceptively dealt with the country and he handed over to a man who knew he was ill. Obasanjo is a leader that could not find another successor capable of driving through his vision for the country'."

Omokri, in the article, expressed dismay when nine months later on December 22, 2013, the same Tinubu was at Obasanjo's residence in Ota, Ogun State, and told the former president they (APC) had resolved and was determined to rescue Nigeria and wanted him as their “navigator”.

The presidential aide said it was glaring to any objective minds that the APC is a party without ideology, and a vision for Nigeria cobbled together by people without scruples who would be willing to work with anybody no matter how odious as long as that person has a grudge against the president.

“This is why they cannot argue with facts and figures against President Jonathan and must therefore conjure up lies, innuendo and propaganda.

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