Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the APC and head of its reconciliation committee, has denied the report that he attended the NEC meeting of the party in Abuja last week but was denied entry by APC governors who accused him of being the brain behind the use of direct primary which is not in their favour.
Though Tinubu was seen at the venue of the meeting, he was not at the meeting which fuelled the rumour that he was denied entry by the governors who allegedly claimed he was not a member of NEC.
Shedding light on what transpired, Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s media aide, said Tinubu was only at the party secretariat, venue of the meeting, because he had an appointment with the national chairman.
He said some governors who were not comfortable with the direct primary model protested his presence, thinking he had come to drum up support for the model.
“Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) did not attend nor made to attend the NEC meeting. Let me set the record straight for the sake of those who may unknowingly believe the lie set as truth for selfish political reasons. Asiwaju is not a member of NEC because he did not feel he should be ab initio.
“If he had wanted he could have chosen even the lowly one by being an ex-officio member and no one could have stopped him then. He never attended any NEC meeting before now and won’t make to attend any now.
“Truth he had an early morning appointment with the Chairman, Oshiomhole. As he made to leave the party secretariat that Thursday, President Buhari arrived for the NEC meeting. He waited, received the president, saw him enter for the NEC meeting and left.
“But some of those governors who, afraid of their own shadows and possible nemesis by engaging with the generality of their party members at open primaries, are averse to direct primaries, felt Asiwaju had chosen to attend the meeting to canvass support for the model,” the aide said.