BEVERLY HILLS, October 04, (THEWILL) – The authorised biography of President Muhammadu Buhari launched Monday has revealed that a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, mounted pressure on Buhari to run as the latter’s running-mate in the 2015 presidential election, however, the then presidential candidate preferred to run with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, over Tinubu.
Before now, the general perception had been that Tinubu was instrumental to the emergence of Osinbajo, who served as Attorney General during the former Lagos governor’s tenure, as the APC vice presidential candidate.
Tinubu, had himself at the presentation of the book, revealed how Osinbajo was selected as Buhari’s running mate, stating that “it was agreed that we should field a religiously balanced ticket given the sensitivity of the moment.”
“Based upon this conclusion, the name of a renowned professor, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and former Lagos State Attorney-General during my tenure as governor was proposed and accepted as the running mate.
“Osinbajo was also a pastor in the largest church in the entire country and this would answer those who had wrongfully tried to paint and present Muhammadu Buhari as intolerant religiously.”
According to the book however, the names of Tinubu; his successor as governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN; and Osinbajo, were put forward for Buhari to pick a running mate from, shortly after the retired general won the party’s presidential primaries in Lagos.
While claiming that Buhari opted to run with Osinbajo, despite enormous pressure from Tinubu to do otherwise, the author wrote: “with Buhari coming from the North-West geopolitical zone, the Vice-Presidency had been ceded to the South-West geopolitical zone.
“Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and political ‘godfather’ of the South-West geopolitical zone, felt he should be the vice-presidential candidate.
“His protégée and the then popular Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, was also a possible candidate.
“Both Tinubu and Fashola were Muslims, which complicated the national balance.
“A third candidate, Yemi Osinbajo, had been Attorney General of Lagos State and a senior law professor and a pastor.
“When the three names were forwarded to Buhari, he chose Osinbajo despite enormous pressure from Tinubu,” Padan said in the book titled: ‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria,’ which was presented at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Monday.
Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, had while reviewing the book, described the 320-page biography as a mixture of history and current affairs, stressing that the author’s account was accurate but for a few understandable “incorrect insinuations”.
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