Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu says there is no rift between former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, insisting that both leaders remain firmly united within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV’s 30 Minutes programme aired on Monday, Shehu said despite public speculation, there is no official disagreement between the two administrations.
“When people are entitled to hold their opinion, and your interpretation of it is purely your entitlement,” Shehu said, adding, “I don’t think in a formal and official sense, anybody would talk about distrust or mistrust or a façade between the Buhari administration and the Tinubu administration,” he said.
Shehu, who served as Buhari’s spokesperson during his presidency, stressed that Buhari remains loyal to the party that brought him to power after several unsuccessful attempts.
“For Muhammadu Buhari, he’s still very much an APC member. He has always said, ‘I will never be ungrateful. I will never betray the party that gave me two terms in office,’” he stated.
He also addressed reports suggesting discontent within Buhari’s political camp, particularly over the direction of the APC under the current administration.
“We read these statements when people say such things. Are we disturbed? I don’t think that’s the right word,” he said.
According to Shehu, those who helped form the APC coalition in 2014 remain committed to the party’s continued stability and success, given the effort it took to unite the opposition forces.
“It took a lot of doing, energy, and sacrifice for the APC to have been put in place, for the desperate opposition elements to come together.
“They tried one, two, three times, and they failed. But by this time, they came together in 2014, formed a party, and ran in 2014. They won. Which means, in effect, that the people who were around, who saw how much sweat it took to build this coalition—I think they are not likely to be the ones who are trying to fracture it,” Shehu added.
