Former Governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki has said that he (Saraki) had put the interest of the country in mind, when he stood against a Muslim-Muslim presidential agenda in 2014.
Saraki made this confession on Friday, via a statement through the head of his Media Office, Yusuph Olaniyonu.
This came as a response to the speech delivered by the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday.
The Informant247 had reported that Tinubu, a leading presidential aspirant of APC, had alleged Saraki of leading a campaign of calumny against his choice as the vice president of Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015.
Tinubu said: “He (Buhari) knew all the calculations then favoured us, that is why he wanted me as his vice, but I told him to let us build the party first.
“And when we finished building the party after we brought in people from the PDP, Saraki now saw that those from the PDP will not get anything if Buhari, a Muslim becomes the president and me, also a Muslim becomes his vice, he won’t get the senate president and the senate president cannot also be a Muslim, that was how they started the campaign of calumny against me.”
Saraki in his response has said that he believed the country was bigger than the political ambition of everyone, including that of Tinubu, reaffirming that he would stand against any plan that fuel religious crisis in Nigeria.
“The opposition to a Muslim- Muslim ticket was not targeted at Tinubu or any other person. It was a decision that even all party leaders know helped the victory of the party and also worked for the unity of the country. That decision is not about self but national and collective interests. It is a decision which served the purpose of the people of Nigeria and I have no regret supporting it,” Saraki said.