Prominent Nigerians and civil society groups have demanded the prosecution of the sacked Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke.
A national leader of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Monday told journalists not to discuss the current clamour for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election with him.
Tinubu, who said this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after meeting behind closed doors with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also declared that there was no cabal in Buhari’s government.
When asked whether he agreed with different groups and individuals calling on Buhari to seek re-election in 2019, Tinubu simply responded, “Don’t discuss that one with me.”
He said his discussion with Buhari which was about the country and leadership was fruitful and productive.
Tinubu described the claims that he was not happy with the President because he had been allegedly sidelined by a cabal as fake news.
He said he had confidence in Buhari, hence, he did not have to be babysitting him.
The party chief however admitted that in democracy, there could be twists and turns as well as conflicts.
He said, “I have confidence in this President, there is no doubt about that. We worked hard to bring about the government. There are certain things that are unpredictable and those are things that can lend themselves to gossips, insinuations and all of that.
“But once you create leadership and it is functioning, you don’t have to babysit that leadership unless there is a loss of confidence and I don’t have that.
“You know me. I’m not known to shy away from saying my mind, rebelling if it is necessary and taking charge of things that I believe are necessary. What is the myth in this leadership thing? What is cabal? It is a myth.
“We are the party of the people for the people and by the people and this is a democratic environment. Each of us has roles to play and that is why we are playing it. I don’t believe in the myth, I believe in confidence building, the trust that we have in the President.
“In the journey of democracy, you are going to have twists and turns; you are going to have conflicts. Conflict resolution mechanisms is inbuilt on how you handle your party and the governance and the party are joined by the hips.”
