El-Rufai: Yes, he made a mistake – Tinubu’s team defends his ‘rotten situation’ comment

The campaign team of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the statement he made yesterday concerning  Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state was simply a blunder.

The APC flag bearer who was one of the guests at the Kaduna State Investment Summit had praised El-Rufai for his political achievements in the state.

Urging El-Rufai not to leave the country for his PhD at the end of his term as governor, Tinubu had mistakenly said that the governor turned a rotten situation into a bad one.

He said, “I am openly begging Governor El-Rufai not to run away for additional Degrees like PhD or others. There are educated derelicts. We are not going to let you run away. Your vision, creativity and resilience in turning a ‘rotten situation into a bad one’ are necessary at this critical time and that is why we are here.”

The statement subsequently generated a buzz on the internet.

Reacting to the development Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media & Publicity, Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, said his principal had simply committed a blunder and people were blowing it out of proportion because it is campaign season.

He argued that blunders are common to every human being, great leaders included, adding that such a situation is not unusual in life.

He went on to inform those who were in the habit of making a mountain out of a molehill to find more productive things to do with their time.

He said, “At the Kaduna State Investment Summit, All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu while commending, Governor Nasir El-Rufai for his transformational leadership in the state had a slip of the tongue that is common to every human being and even great leaders.

“The APC leader inadvertently said Governor El-Rufai “turned a rotten situation” he met on the ground in Kaduna into “a bad one” whereas he meant to say “to a great one to be proud of today. It was a mere Freudian slip, which is not unusual in life, even among leaders of nations. We recognise we are in a political season where everything is latched on for deliberate distortion and twisted mischief. While mischief makers went so low, we noted that the audience at KadInvest 7.0 followed Asiwaju Tinubu with rapt attention and knew he only had a slip. We can only tell mischief makers to look for better and more productive things to do with their time.”