I Went To Commiserate With Buhari, Not To Talk Politics – Chief Bisi Akande

By Kamal Oropo, Abuja

All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Chief Bisi Akande, said his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja was not political but to commiserate with him on his bereavement.

Akande, pioneer National Chairman of the party, was at the Presidential Villa in company with another leader of the party, Sen. Bola Tinubu. The visit was the second in two weeks.

Buhari’s extended family lost two senior members within a few hours.

Ai’sha Mamman, wife of the president’s elder brother, died on Friday, while Halima Dauda, his niece, died on Saturday.

Akande told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after leaving the Villa that his visit with Tinubu to the president had nothing to do with politics ahead of 2019 elections.

According to him, Buhari’s popularity in the country is unshakable.

“I must point out clearly that my visit in the company of Asiwaju has nothing to do with politics. There is no crisis in our party that is not being adequately handled.

“Our visit is a friendly one; it is a visit by friends commiserating with another friend, who recently lost family members. Every other thing is in the imagination of mischief makers.

“The problem is with those who brought this nation to its knees. These people cannot be redeemed.

“They are the ones making all hues and cries, because free money they were used to have ceased,” he said.

Akande said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ruined the country almost beyond redemption.

“President Buhari is doing everything possible to redeem the situation of the country.

“No one said it is going to be easy, given the scale of destruction of the recent past, but with steadfastness and patriotism, a lot is being achieved,” he added.

On Tinubu’s recent assignment to reconcile members of APC, the former chairman of the party said the former Lagos governor was the best man for the job.

“If you will recall, Asiwaju was the deciding factor that brought together the alliance that birthed the APC. He has the energy, the doggedness and the discipline to replicate this in bringing together all feuding sides.

“It is all about the nation. In the APC, we put the country first, and once we are convinced that what we are doing is in the interest of the country, every other thing is secondary.”
NAN