APC NWC Dissolution Not About Buhari, Tinubu ‘Showdown’ – Presidency

The Presidency yesterday described as untrue, the insinuation that the recommendation by President Muhammadu Buhari for dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was reflective of a purported showdown between the president and National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

A presidential aide, Garba Shehu, in a statement issued yesterday, said the relationship between the two leaders remained as strong as ever.

Shehu said opposition parties that used all their intellectuals and supporters to break the relationship had failed.

He said the recommendation of the president which followed constitutional provisions was to save the APC from collapse.

The statement said: “The very essence of the requests put to the Emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the 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 the commentary that this is a BuhariTinubu ‘showdown.’ Nothing can be farther from the truth.

“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.