Bode Goerge, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Tinubu, begged late military ruler, Sani Abacha, for appointment.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Sun, George provided more details and said people like former Osun governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, knows about the story.<\/p>\n
His reaction follows comments by some Tinubu\u2019s associates absolving him of allegations that he sold out to Abacha.<\/p>\n
George said: \u201cI have nothing personal against Tinubu. I don\u2019t hate him. We may not be in the same political party and there is no big deal about that. Nigeria\u2019s constitution guarantees freedom of association. On this issue of Kola\u2019s claims, I\u2019m saying nothing but the truth. Kola Abiola was right.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinubu begged Abacha to make him an administrator or a state commissioner. I was in the military that time, and I was in Aso Rock with Gen. Abacha and Gen. Oladipo Diya who was then chief of general staff to Abacha. I was the principal staff officer I to Gen. Diya. I was then a commodore in the Nigerian Navy.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinubu came to Aso Rock to lobby for these positions but already the military had taken decisions that Abacha\u2019s regime was going to be purely a military regime unlike that of Babangida who appointed civilians as deputy governors to military governors then.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinubu actually came to lobby to be made a commissioner but when he was told about the military decision, he became sad. He wasn\u2019t happy and that was when he went to join NADECO and other pro-democracy activists. If Abacha had given him the positions he lobbied for, Tinubu would have been part of Abacha\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately some of these people defending Tinubu and now attacking both myself and Kola Abiola don\u2019t know all these that I\u2019m revealing. I\u2019m saying it again categorically that it was when Tinubu didn\u2019t get appointment from the Abacha\u2019s government that he, out of frustration and anger went to join NADECO.<\/p>\n
\u201cI challenge Tinubu to a public debate on this. I challenge Tinubu to a public debate on any national television station either here in Nigeria or abroad. I\u2019m even ready to face him on CNN or BBC on this issue. I\u2019m calling out Tinubu, he should take up my challenge. Even if he said we should go to a graveyard to face one another on this issue, I\u2019m ready to face him.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those defending Tinubu, have they seen Tinubu coming out to speak personally or issue a personal statement on Kola Abiola\u2019s claims and my support for Kola Abiola? I\u2019m talking about people like former Lagos state APC chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale, former NUPENG president, Joseph Akinlaja and others who have become Tinubu\u2019s defenders on this issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these people don\u2019t know about what transpired during the June 12 crisis, they should keep quiet instead of defending what is not defensible, I say once again, Tinubu should come and face me in a public debate on this issue if he believes I\u2019m not saying the truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Abacha had agreed with Tinubu, Tinubu would have become deputy governor to Oyinlola. Both Oyinlola and Tinubu are brothers. They are both from Osun state. Tinubu is from Iragbiji while Oyinlola is from Okuku. Nigerians should ask Oyinlola if I\u2019m lying. Facts are facts, Tinubu can\u2019t deny that he lobbied Abacha to be made a commissioner or deputy governor to Oyinlola. I\u2019m putting all these together in my memoirs, which will be out very soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bode Goerge, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Tinubu, begged late military ruler, Sani Abacha, for appointment. In an interview with The Sun, George provided more details and said people like former Osun governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, knows about the story. His reaction […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":12425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[34,37,516,65],"class_list":["post-12423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-apc","tag-bola-tinubu","tag-osun","tag-pdp"],"yoast_head":"\n