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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political career might have ended at the governorship level in Lagos State if not for his (Atiku’s) support.
He made this statement in response to the common belief that Tinubu helped him (Atiku) after he conflicted with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which led to Atiku running for the presidency under the Action Congress (AC) in 2007.
Vice President Kashim Shettima reignited this assertion on Thursday, June 6, at an event stating that Tinubu’s residence in Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos, served as a refuge for Atiku when he faced harassment and expulsion from the PDP.
Responding to Shettima’s assertion, Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, clarified that Shettima’s statement was a misinterpretation, suggesting that Atiku received support from President Bola Tinubu during his persecution within the PDP.
He said, “Truth be told, it was Tinubu that actually benefited immensely from Atiku’s goodwill. But for Atiku’s support, hinged on his pro-democracy instincts and rule of law, Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos would have been rough with a wide possibility of termination of his political career.”
With more clarification, he said, “For some time, and especially leading up to the 2023 election, there has been a deliberate attempt to distort the history of the politics of the early 4th Republic by ascribing the AC, the political platform that Atiku ran in 2007 as Tinubu’s party.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. Vice President Shettima, obviously carried away with the euphoria of the unveiling of his official residence as Vice President, repeated the same lie.
“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but Action Congress (AC). AC came out of a coalition of ACD (Advance Congress of Democrats), formed by mainly PDM members and other associates and Tinubu’s faction of AD.”