Ogunlewe: Tinubu Went to Adamu’s House to Challenge Him
•Umahi accuses S’East delegates of trading votes
Segun James
A former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, yesterday revealed how the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, went to the house of the APC National Chairman, Adamu Abdulahi to challenge him that he could not adopt anyone as the party’s candidate.
In a related development yesterday, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi lamented how delegates from the South-east “traded their votes” in the just-concluded presidential primary of the APC.
Ogunlewe revealed Tinubu’s mission to Adamu’s residence on ARISE NEWS Channel yesterday, saying Tinubu “is too smart to be outwitted by anyone.”
He said after Adamu announced the Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, as the party’s consensus candidate, Tinubu went to meet him in his house to say he could not do that.
Ogunlewe added that Adamu was confused with Tinubu’s unexpected visit, saying he tried to explain himself but Tinubu’s insistence of proceeding to the field to slug it out with other contestants demobilised the APC chair.
“He went to meet Adamu in his house. That is Tinubu for you,”
Ogunlewe said it would have been “a great miscalculation on the part of the APC to adopt any other candidate. The APC is too big for anyone to micro-manage its affairs. You cannot micro manage politics where someone is competent.
He said Tinubu is more than ready for the country, adding that the candidate had worked himself hard for his emergence.
He said he has personally met Tinubu to demand from him that it is only service to Nigeria that is left for him.
He said Tinubu is wealthy and fulfilled as a Nigerian, adding that the only thing left for him is to serve the country.
Speaking at his hometown, Uburu, during the maiden matriculation of the King David University of Medical Sciences, Umahi said his focus, henceforth, would be on Ebonyi and not on the Igbo in general.
The APC had conducted its presidential primary last week with Tinubu polling 1,271 votes to clinch the party’s nomination.
Tinubu had contested against 13 other presidential hopefuls – including Umahi, who polled 38 votes and a former Minister of State for Education, Mr. Emeka Nwajuba, who scored one vote.
During the matriculation, Umahi said: “I had a series of meetings with the party’s chairmen in the five states of the zone in the company of its national vice-chairman.
“I implored the delegates that the issue was not about me, but the mood of the Igbo in the nation. I implored that they should vote for any south-east aspirant, so that when the votes are counted, we would not be missing,” NAN quoted him as saying.
“We would have made a strong statement in the process that the Igbo are eminently qualified with due capacity to lead the country.
“They will come later to preach about Igbo unity and its agenda but henceforth, the only agenda I know is the Ebonyi agenda. This shows that even if we have an equal number of local government areas and delegates such as other zones, we would still trade our votes.
“We are currently regarded as people who can sell anything but they should remember that anyone who betrays his brother will lose the trust of those who gained from the betrayal.
“There was no sort of lobbying I did not receive, but I maintained that it was about bringing the marginalisation of the Igbo to the fore.
“Ebonyi delegates have made yourselves reference points of steadfastness in the country and when people are seeking trustworthy people, they will come for you.
“I have lost total confidence in the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural organisation, and will openly confront anyone who challenges the Ebonyi agenda.”
