Statement
Released by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding his withdrawal from
consideration for the APC Vice- Presidential Position.
I
am a Nigerian who loves his country and am hopeful about what it can become. I
have seen and conducted myself as a patriot long before I thought of myself as
a politician. I shall always walk this line and no other.
After
all the political calculations are made and the dust of
competition
has settled, it must be this nation and its people who stand first and
foremost. The question becomes whether we stand strong, able to shape ourselves
into our best future or will we stand frail and trembling, burdened by the
abject failure to surmount the multiple problems confronting us.
It
against this backdrop that I assess any action I take. Here I come to my name
being placed in consideration as the Vice Presidential candidate for our party,
the APC. I have labored hard to move this party from being merely an idea in
the minds of a few into being a political organization that might win this
election and govern the nation in way that gives the people the hope and
opportunity they seek. Nothing is more important to me than to realize this
dream not for myself but for the people of this land I so love.
I
helped to build this party, giving no thought to seeking an elected office
because of it. My contribution to the party was never based on the expectation
of a later political handout. Nigeria is in trouble and we are well past the
moment for such narrow, selfish games.
There
came a time during the course of the events when our Presidential candidate,
General Muhammadu Buhari offered the Vice Presidential slot to me. Being a
normal human being, I was deeply moved and honored that he would consider me
for the position. Being a patriot, I had to weigh my potential candidacy in all
of its dimensions.
I
have concluded that the interest of the party, our campaign and of the nation
are better served if I retain my position as the National leader of the APC,
allowing me to be a bridge builder across all divides. Although, I declined the
position, I want to thank General Buhari for extending the honor to me. Despite
all the noise and opposition around my possible selection, he stood firm and
steadfast.
He
showed the traits of a leader in holding to a decision he believed was right
despite the errant plots against it.
When
my name was raised, the political hatchet men tried to chop it down with rumor
and lies. Over the years, I have developed a thick skin. The personal attacks
did not bother me. I am used to them. While I have a thick skin, I don’t have a
thick mind. There has been one form of attack that has troubled me. That is the
attack based on religion. The PDP and others have stoked fear of a Muslim-
Muslim ticket.
I
have removed myself from consideration so what I now say cannot be seen as
self-serving. I plead with the people of this nation to never allow the power
lust of cynical politicians to set brother against brother, neighbor against
neighbor. If you look at those politicians who raise this issue the most, they
are the least devout and faithful to
any religion other their self-interests.
Nigeria
has too many secular problems – insecurity, economic collapse, poverty ,
corruption and misgovernance – to allow inept people to use religion to keep us
from solving these challenges for the benefit of all.
Those
who exploit religion should be wary. For there really is a God and he does not
like it when you play with his people or use His name to do the opposite of
what He intends.
I
ask the people to remove religion from the electoral equation now that the
tickets of both parties are mixed. I ask you to select the ticket best able to
end the downward slide that Nigeria has endured since this government took
over. I ask you to remember that too many Christians and Muslims are poor. Most
of all, I ask you to remember that
the true religion of the PDP is poverty, APC come to bring prosperity to the
people. Please vote for that.
The
Nigeria I see is a nation that shall overcome. The Nigeria I see is a nation
ready to sweep aside the broken ways of our recent past and the government and
politicians who impose distress upon us. The Nigeria I see and seek is one
where each person, every man, woman and child
may live free of terrorism, free of the despair of poverty and free of the fear
that the government meant to serve and protect them has turned its back to them
in cold and utter indifference.
I
see and seek a Nigeria where progressive democratic governance creates the
political and economic space needed for each of us to contribute to rescuing
and retooling this nation. And, in the process of this benign endeavor, may
each and every one of us share in the sound
promise and good prosperity that shall describe the architecture of our
national revival.
However,
not everyone that shouts the name of Nigeria believes in this vision. There are
many who would have you laid low and our future tossed asunder that they may
persist in reaping the unjust reward of their selfish ways. There are wolves in
sheep clothing and even jackals in wolf’s clothing. I have seen them but not as
residents in some
strange zoo. They populate the halls of this diminished government and the
party from which this government was born.
We
have come to the field of fateful choice. We have been brought to test the
scales of weighty decision. Shall we lift this nation upward so that from its
higher vantage point we may clearly see the road to our better destiny? Or
shall we continue to march the march of fools into the dark of darkness. The
current path has but one end. It shall take
us into the den of national collapse. We have gone far enough down this wicked
avenue to be aware of what its continuance portends.
We
must awaken of our own accord, my dear people, before the bell of doom rings
upon us. If we wait until that moment, we would have waited too long. Our
future, our fate, our destiny would have been cast into the snare of utter
misfortune. This is not the song of greatness. It
is
the poetics of ruin.
For
me, political ambition will never triumph over patriotic
conviction.
This delicate moment affords no space for emotion to intrude to blind us from
what is best. The APC is the best and only vehicle to enact the progressive and
broad change this nation cries for. I eagerly lend myself to this fine cause
without me having to be on the ticket.
This
is a time for cohesion and an overriding sense of mission. We must defeat the
foe before us and resist all temptations intended to entice us to fight among
ourselves.
I
sincerely commit myself to the rescue agenda of General Buhari and Professor
Osinbajo.
I
declare to you, I will work and dedicate myself so that our ticket succeeds and
wins the 2015 election -- not for his good, not for my good, not even for the
party’s good but for the good of the nation we inhabit.
Some
may call what I have done a sacrifice. I call it otherwise. It is my patriotic
contribution and duty. I do so with a happy and uplifted heart and clear
conscience because I have committed myself to seeking the best for this nation
before seeking what is good for myself. This is
the creed of statesmanship I chose to follow. May this be the creed of our
party as General Buhari leads us to historic victory in the 2015 elections.
May
the light of a bright future always shine on you and on our beloved nation, the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
-Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
December
17th, 2014
