A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, on Sunday asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop interfering in the affairs of the ruling party.
He spoke in Abuja at the venue of the national convention of the party.
Mr Tinubu, who described Mr Obasanjo’s interference as “busy body”, argued that the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari in three years could not be compared to those of the administrations of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which ruled the country for unbroken 16 years.
Mr Obasanjo was president between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP.
The former president had earlier in the year written an open letter to Mr Buhari asking him not to run for a second term because he had performed poorly.
However, the president ignored the advice as he announced at the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja that he would seek reelection next year.
Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, said Mr Obasanjo did not have the right to tell the president not to run again.
“Thank God he (Obasanjo) is not a part of our party; this busy body. Unfortunately he has torn the card of his previous party so he has no home,” he said.
He thanked Mr Buhari for his decision to run again, saying “run, contest, you must.”
He also appreciated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for being “a great fountain of knowledge” and for not undermining his (vice president) leaders.
On the convention, Mr Tinubu expressed joy that it was successfully conducted, stating “today through convention we have changed the leadership of our party, not at gun point.”
Congratulating the newly elected national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor said his (Oshiomhole) emergence was a true reflection of the saying that “no matter how short a man is you will see the sky.”
He admonished the new NWC members to work hard for the party because its members had put their trust in them and would not afford to fail.
He said, “In trust we put you; that trust you cannot abuse. We will be with you, support you and the day we need to fight you, we will fight.”
Mr Tinubu said despite predictions that the APC would implode during the convention, it remained intact.
“The ‘pigs’ and their fortune tellers predicted the party will fall apart but I thank the (national convention) committee for making the convention a success,” he said.
