The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has disowned his closest confidant and media mouth piece, the Chairman, Editorial Board of the Nation Newspaper, Sam Omatseye, over a recent article written against President Muhammadu Buhari.
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A statement issued on Tuesday, June 7, by Tinubu’s spokesperson, Sunday Dare, said a comment alleged to have been made by Tinubu denouncing Buhari’s policies and performance, was far from the truth.
Recall, that Omatseye who had always represented the APC National Leader, in most public presentations, as well as, written in his defense in major topical issues, had blasted Buhari and also berated him for the myriad of problems confronting the nation in his piece titled, “When the bells ring twice”.
He had said: “Not many thought the first year of Muhammadu Buhari would look like this. The pump price of petrol at 145, the naira at 350 to a dollar, not a single road tarred, the 2016 Budget in baby steps, no minister has received a tranche for work, salary backlogs now a routine, herdsmen as killer squads, Biafra on the rampage, Niger Delta brigands reborn, a Labour strike, the President has only visited one state on official trip, his plane has landed on four continents, the change mantra muted”.
Reacting to the report, another Tinubu’s spokesman disowned Omatseye’s views on Buhari, maintaining that there was no rift between the APC National Leader and the President.
He said: “Over the weekend, more than 80 people called and emailed him about the purported comment.
“They were angry that some people would just manipulate and fabricate stories and go ahead to publish lies and absolute nonsense. All I could do was to calm them down. In the social media age, any knucklehead can publish or turn fact on its head.
“But we know this recent one is again coming from the stable of people who have sworn to destroy the relationship between President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu, already, they have failed.
“The fact is this: Sam Omatseye, who is the chairman, editorial board of The Nation, is a journalist of repute and a powerful and independent mind, who needs no prodding before he writes. He has been running a weekly Monday column since the paper’s inception and cannot, and does not speak for Asiwaju Tinubu.
“His Monday 30th May, column, titled ‘When the bell rings twice’, is entirely an analysis by him, penned and signed by him”.