“It’s payback. Let him endorse me, instead of conducting rallies around Kaduna while I’m talking to great people here,” Tinubu said.”
*Photo L-R: Atiku, Tinubu *
The Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has asked the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abubakar Atiku to withdraw from the race for him.
Tinubu said he had helped many northerners in the past including Atiku Abubakar.
The Shield Online reports that the APC presidential candidate stated this while speaking at an interactive session with some Northern leaders under the aegis of Arewa Joint Committee on Monday.
He said, “I was one of the youngest strategists with Shehu Musa Yar’adua. I started here in the North. Atiku met me with Yar’adua after he left Nigeria Customs freshly. He met me strategizing for Yar’adua… ask him.”
Tinubu asked Atiku to reciprocate the “gesture” he accorded him when he contested for the presidency under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007.
The APC presidential candidate recalled that he dropped his ambition and endorsed Atiku
“I supported Atiku Abubakar in 2007.
“Don’t blame me if I ask for the payback.
“It’s payback. Let him endorse me, instead of conducting rallies around Kaduna while I’m talking to great people here,” Tinubu said.
The committee, comprising the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation (ABF), Arewa Research and Development Project, and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa had invited some presidential candidates for an interactive session in Kaduna.