LAGOS JUNE 28TH (URHOBOTODAY)-It seems the crisis rocking All Progressive Congress (APC) has taking a different dimension hence Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina have engaged in media war over the claim of Saraki that he dropped his presidential ambition because of Buhari.
Denying reports that he is nursing the ambition for presidency in 2019 while addressing selected journalists at Abuja, Saraki disclosed that he actually quit his presidential bid in 2015 election for President Muhammadu Buhari.
He maintained that he contributed immensely to the emergence of Buhari as President and contributed greatly to his victory in the presidential election held on March 28, 2015.
Rather, he said what remained paramount in his mind at the moment was how to support the Buhari-led administration to tackle the various social and economic problems confronting the country.
According to him, “I was the first person that stepped down his political ambition, once General Buhari announced that he was going to contest the presidential election. And since then, prior to the period of election, I worked tirelessly to support his emergence.
“Even some of my friends who are not supporting me now are doing so because I did not support them in their presidential ambition and that I supported President Buhari. That is why I find it funny that the same people are now claiming to love Buhari more than me. It is a very funny world.
“These are people that I was begging to leave the stage for Buhari to run since all of us are young. They are now the one going round to say that Saraki did not like Buhari but time will tell.”
In a swift reaction Saraki’s claim, Adesina, while debunking Saraki’s claim argued that the Senate President’s claim has no element of truth, because there was primary election which was plain and transparent, conducted by the party, in which President Buhari won.
“We all know all those who took part in the race, Saraki was not among them. So there was nothing like stepping down,” Adesina argued.
Adesina, however, re-affirmed that Mr. President’s stand on the leadership issue saying, “President Buhari has always maintained that the party has the supremacy on such issue. That is Buhari’s position on the issue.”
While URHOBOTODAY is not taking sides with any of the party, it would be recalled that, of a truth, Bukola announced the suspension of his presidential ambition for the interest of the country during APC presidential primary but failed to mention the exact presidential candidate he stepped down for.