A former deputy governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele has stated that APC chieftain Asiwaju Bola Tinubu wanted to be vice president in a mandate with Atiku Abubakar.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Independent at the weekend, Bucknor-Akerele stated that Tinubu sort to hijack the then AD so as to enable his political ambition.
Bucknor-Akerele said: “He (Tinubu) did call me and said to me that he thought we should take over the party from the elders, who were the founders of the party.
“When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he said he needed to take control of the party structure because he wanted to be vice president to Atiku Abubakar in 2007.
“I said but how is that possible since Atiku is not a member of our party? We are in Alliance for Democracy (AD) while Atiku belongs to the PDP? He said I shouldn’t worry about that and should just cooperate with him in his plans.
“As a principled person, I refused and that was the genesis of my trouble with him. I believed that we should face governance and that the founders of the party should continue to run the party.”
Bucknor-Akerele denied claims that his relationship with Tinubu got strained due to insubordination.
“Well, I don’t think it is insubordination because, as my principal then, there was nothing he asked me to do that I did not do, at least as far as my duties as the deputy governor were concerned.
“The only thing I didn’t do is to join him in taking over the party from the elders who had supported us and put us as governor and deputy governor.
“He wanted me to join him in taking over the party from the elders and I refused. I believed that was a betrayal of trust which I would not be a party to.”