Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has said that he acted in national interest when he opposed a plan to foist a Muslim-Muslim presidency on Nigeria in 2014.
Saraki stated this on Friday via a statement by his spokesman Yusuph Olaniyonu following a comment by presidential aspirant Bola Tinubu that Saraki and others opposed his desire to be running mate to President Mohammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections.
“When I and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 stood against having a Muslim-Muslim ticket, it was not a decision targeted at any individual or group but one taken in the national interest. Asiwaju knows this and he is just being mischievous by presenting this decision as something aimed at stopping his ambition,” said Saraki.
“Let me make it clear that the decision to oppose the plans by some people to make APC present a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015 was in the national interest and I will take the same stand today, tomorrow, and any other day. My stance is based on the fact that such a ticket is not good for the unity of the country and will further accentuate one of our fault lines.
“Even Asiwaju Tinubu knows that I am a man who does not shy away from standing for what is right. He knows that I don’t follow the crowd and I take a stand based on my conviction of what is good for the country and what is not good for her. It is also obvious that I have paid prices for this stand.”
Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, added that because of his opposition of the “Muslim-Muslim ticket issue of 2014” Tinubu worked hard to stop his emergence as Senate President.
“Despite calling himself a democrat, he continued to support every effort to frustrate the eighth National Assembly and thwart its efforts to provide good representation to Nigeria. He was the architect of several moves that set the Presidency on a collision course with the National Assembly,” he said.
