Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, October 5, claimed he never betrayed President Bola Tinubu, during their political alliance in 2007.
He stated that rather than betraying the president, he stood up to his then-principal, President Olusegun Obasanjo, and ensured that Lagos state did not succumb to the 2003 political tsunami.
Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, revealed this in a press conference in Abuja.
He said: “Those of you who are old enough will also remember that in 2003, the PDP took over all the southwestern states, with the exception of Lagos.
“I stood between Obasanjo and himself (Tinubu) and I said no, you (Obasanjo) can’t take over Lagos. Leave it and he (Obasanjo) left it. So, who is indebted to whom? Is it me or Bola Ahmed Tinubu? I vehemently deny that I stabbed Tinubu in the back. There are other things which I will not want to go into.”
In response to a journalist’s question about a presidential spokesman’s claim that he betrayed Tinubu by requesting the president’s academic records from Chicago State University, Atiku said he and Tinubu parted ways politically after the former Lagos state governor wanted to be his running mate in 2007.
He said: “I beg to disagree (on betrayal allegation) with Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yes, it is true that in 2007 we came together to form an alliance in Lagos, and at the convention, I contested and got the ticket. After I got the ticket, he sent about 5 or 6 seniors – some of them are here – I can even name them but I don’t want to embarrass them.
“They met me and said to me that Bola wanted to be my running mate. I said to them, gentlemen, you’re all old enough, and apparently, virtually all of you are Christians’ with the exception of one person. What will be your reaction to having a Muslim-Muslim ticket?
“All of them said we totally objected to it and I said why didn’t you tell him when he was giving you the message that look Mr Tinubu, the message you’re sending us, we don’t seem to agree with you on it (Muslim-Muslim ticket). Why are you coming then to me? And that was the end of our political relationship. We broke away, so what is the ground for him to say that I betrayed him?
“Till today, I won’t do a Muslim-Muslim ticket; I don’t have to be president; we are a multi-ethnic and multi-religious people, and our government must reflect our diversity, and our composition must reflect the same.”
The Nation reported that the university released the academic records of the President on Monday and the CSU Registrar, Carl Westberg, also carried out a deposition of the documents on Tuesday, in compliance with the ruling of Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert.
Gilbert approved Atiku’s request for Tinubu’s academic records on September 19, but the President filed a review of the ruling.
