By Bashir Mohammed Kano
Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has called on the National Assembly and the Presidency to close ranks and sheathe their swords in order to save the nation’s nascent democracy from total extinction. Speaking to newsmen shortly after condoling with Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje at the Kano Government House yesterday over the death of Danmasanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, Tinubu said confl icts and altercation between the legislature and the executive arm of the government were normal in a democracy, adding that the issue of national interest was above any primordial consideration.
He said for democracy to thrive, there was the need for the relevant arms of government to close ranks despite the fact that the issue of “stand-off and disagreements” was normal and was part of the beauty of democracy, stressing that allowing pettiness and primordial considerations could only lead to total polarisation of the system. On the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, he maintained that there was nothing new for a sitting President to fall sick at any given time, pointing out that what is needed is prayer for his quick recovery, and not infl aming passion.
He said it was only in Africa that people were creating unnecessary obstacles for leaders in positions of authority, most especially when such leaders found themselves in unpleasant situations, affi rming that “God is the only one that kills at His will not the noise being made by the people.” He said Nigeria, as a promising political entity, had been endowed with the potentials to excel and prosper in every fi eld of human endeavour, noting that it was only when the nation’s political elite strive to live above board and shun all acts capable of destabilising the polity that the issue of good governance in a democracy could be realistic.
Speaking on Governor Ganduje score-card, Tinubu said for the giant strides he had eff ected since coming on board, the governor had lived up to his billing as a leader, affi rming that he has what it takes to run for president, after completing two successful tenure in offi ce as a governor. On the late Danmasanin Kano, Tinubu said the country had lost a great philosopher whose contributions to the unity and progress had transcended all frontiers of human endeavours. He commended the governor for mooting the idea of immortalising the “great icon, patriot and nationalist who died preaching the gospel of unity in diversity.”
