A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Plateau State, Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, has confirmed that the National Leader of the party and 2023 Presidential Hopeful, Bola Tinubu, said that he does not believe in one Nigeria, in an interview in 1999, .
Zazzaga therefore, called on Tinubu to apologise to all Nigerians.
He noted that although Tinubu made the comment many years ago, it is now being recalled by Nigerians, especially as he declared his intention to run for the 2023 Presidency.
Speaking to Journalists, in Jos, the Plateau State capital, Zazzaga said: “In Thisday publication of April 13, 1997, Tinubu granted an interview in which he was quoted as saying, ‘I do not believe in one Nigeria’. And that interview has resurfaced since his Presidential ambition declaration, people began to raise eyebrows, asking damaging questions.
“So many people have been calling and mocking us, saying if he does not believe in One Nigeria, how come he wants to contest for the Presidency of a nation he did not believe in.
“This has been agitating the minds of members of the APC, and it is not good for the well being of the party, as the nation counts down to the 2023 general elections.
“Therefore, the most honourable thing for Tinubu to do is to come out and apologise to Nigerians on the comments which he made before this democratic dispensation which began in 1999, and he should as well explain the rationale of the interview to Nigerians, and point out if he was misquoted or not.
“Whatever his explanation would be, at least it will calm peoples nerves, and save the party from being projected in a bad light.
“And that will not only project him as a true Leader of the party, or as a Presidential Aspirant, but it will prove that he is a man of honour and dignity, and someone who will take responsibility for his words, deeds, and actions.”