A former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Nicholas Felix, has revealed what the All Progressive Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, did to him after stepping down for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the party’s primary in Abuja.
Felix alleged that Tinubu had shut him out of his campaign ahead of the 2023 general election.
Recall that the youngest APC aspirant’s thrown his weight behind Osinbajo after he stepped down at the June 7 presidential primary.
Felix had described Osinbajo as the ‘best man for the job’, adding that he strongly believed that he could turn the country around positively.
However, Tinubu clinched the APC presidential ticket after defeating Osinbajo, immediate past Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, and 11 other aspirants.
“Asiwaju has not reached out to me. Neither has any member of his campaign team. No one has called me. I am about the only candidate Asiwaju has yet to meet. I don’t know the reason.
“Maybe it was because I stepped down for the vice president or didn’t support the idea of a possible Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he added.
Reacting to Felix’s claim, the Bola Tinubu Campaign Organisation spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said, “Unfortunately, we all know Asiwaju is not in town. But Nigerians are aware of how he visited all the aspirants after the primary. Perhaps (he) was not in town. Maybe he was in America or somewhere. I don’t want to join issues with him.
“If Asiwaju has not reached out to him as he said, I am sure by the time he returns from France; he will cover up whatever gaps exist. I don’t want us to get dragged into that. It is possible that it is even an oversight. As a politician, he doesn’t neglect anybody or see people as not being important. I am sure it wasn’t a deliberate act or hidden agenda on his part. Everybody is important to him.”