Tinubu writes on turning down offer to be Buhari's running mate

Statement released by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding his withdrawal from consideration for the APC Vice- Presidential Position.

I am a Nigerian who loves his country and am hopeful about what it can become. I have seen and conducted myself as a patriot long before I thought of myself as a politician. I shall always walk this line and no other.

After all the political calculations are made and the dust of competition has settled, it must be this nation and its people who stand first and foremost.The question becomes whether we stand strong, able to shape ourselves into our best future or will we stand frail and trembling, burdened by the abject failure to surmount the multiple problems confronting us.

It against this backdrop that I assess any action I take. Here I come

to my name being placed in consideration as the Vice Presidential

candidate for our party, the APC. I have labored hard to move this

party from being merely an idea in the minds of a few into being a

political organization that might win this election and govern the

nation in way that gives the people the hope and opportunity they

seek. Nothing is more important to me than to realize this dream not

for myself but for the people of this land I so love.

I helped to build this party, giving no thought to seeking an elected

office because of it. My contribution to the party was never based on

the expectation of a later political handout. Nigeria is in trouble

and we are well past the moment for such narrow, selfish games.

There came a time during the course of the events when our

Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari offered the Vice

Presidential slot to me. Being a normal human being, I was deeply

moved and honored that he would consider me for the position. Being a

patriot, I had to weigh my potential candidacy in all of its

dimensions.

I have concluded that the interest of the party, our campaign and of

the nation are better served if I retain my position as the National

leader of the APC, allowing me to be a bridge builder across all

divides. Although, I declined the position, I want to thank General

Buhari for extending the honor to me. Despite all the noise and

opposition around my possible selection, he stood firm and steadfast.

He showed the traits of a leader in holding to a decision he believed

was right despite the errant plots against it.

When my name was raised, the political hatchet men tried to chop it

down with rumor and lies. Over the years, I have developed a thick

skin. The personal attacks did not bother me. I am used to them. While

I have a thick skin, I don’t have a thick mind. There has been one

form of attack that has troubled me. That is the attack based on

religion. The PDP and others have stoked fear of a Muslim- Muslim

ticket.

I have removed myself from consideration so what I now say cannot be

seen as self-serving. I plead with the people of this nation to never

allow the power lust of cynical politicians to set brother against

brother, neighbor against neighbor. If you look at those politicians

who raise this issue the most, they are the least devout and faithful

to any religion other their self-interests.

Nigeria has too many secular problems – insecurity, economic

collapse, poverty , corruption and misgovernance – to allow inept

people to use religion to keep us from solving these challenges for

the benefit of all.

Those who exploit religion should be wary. For there really is a God

and he does not like it when you play with his people or use His name

to do the opposite of what He intends.

I ask the people to remove religion from the electoral equation now

that the tickets of both parties are mixed. I ask you to select the

ticket best able to end the downward slide that Nigeria has endured

since this government took over. I ask you to remember that too many

Christians and Muslims are poor. Most of all, I ask you to remember

that the true religion of the PDP is poverty, APC come to bring

prosperity to the people. Please vote for that.

The Nigeria I see is a nation that shall overcome. The Nigeria I see

is a nation ready to sweep aside the broken ways of our recent past

and the government and politicians who impose distress upon us. The

Nigeria I see and seek is one where each person, every man, woman and

child may live free of terrorism, free of the despair of poverty and

free of the fear that the government meant to serve and protect them

has turned its back to them in cold and utter indifference.

I see and seek a Nigeria where progressive democratic governance

creates the political and economic space needed for each of us to

contribute to rescuing and retooling this nation. And, in the process

of this benign endeavor, may each and every one of us share in the

sound promise and good prosperity that shall describe the architecture

of our national revival.

However, not everyone that shouts the name of Nigeria believes in this

vision. There are many who would have you laid low and our future

tossed asunder that they may persist in reaping the unjust reward of

their selfish ways. There are wolves in sheep clothing and even

jackals in wolf’s clothing. I have seen them but not as residents in

some strange zoo. They populate the halls of this diminished

government and the party from which this government was born.

We have come to the field of fateful choice. We have been brought to

test the scales of weighty decision. Shall we lift this nation upward

so that from its higher vantage point we may clearly see the road to

our better destiny? Or shall we continue to march the march of fools

into the dark of darkness. The current path has but one end. It shall

take us into the den of national collapse. We have gone far enough

down this wicked avenue to be aware of what its continuance portends.

We must awaken of our own accord, my dear people, before the bell of

doom rings upon us. If we wait until that moment, we would have waited

too long. Our future, our fate, our destiny would have been cast into

the snare of utter misfortune. This is not the song of greatness. It

is the poetics of ruin.

For me, political ambition will never triumph over patriotic

conviction. This delicate moment affords no space for emotion to

intrude to blind us from what is best. The APC is the best and only

vehicle to enact the progressive and broad change this nation cries

for. I eagerly lend myself to this fine cause without me having to be

on the ticket.

This is a time for cohesion and an overriding sense of mission. We

must defeat the foe before us and resist all temptations intended to

entice us to fight among ourselves.

I sincerely commit myself to the rescue agenda of General Buhari and

Professor Osinbajo.

I declare to you, I will work and dedicate myself so that our ticket

succeeds and wins the 2015 election -- not for his good, not for my

good, not even for the party’s good but for the good of the nation we

inhabit.

Some may call what I have done a sacrifice. I call it otherwise. It is

my patriotic contribution and duty. I do so with a happy and uplifted

heart and clear conscience because I have committed myself to seeking

the best for this nation before seeking what is good for myself. This

is the creed of statesmanship I chose to follow. May this be the creed

of our party as General Buhari leads us to historic victory in the

2015 elections.

May the light of a bright future always shine on you and on our

beloved nation, the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

December 17th, 2014