Tinubu in another gaffe, hails Gov el-Rufai for turning ‘rotten situation to bad one’ •It was a slip, APC Campaign Council clarifies

The 2023 presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday, praised Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai’s “creativity and resilience in turning a rotten situation into a bad one,” a statement his critics latched onto, insisting that he lacks the mental capacity to lead a complex country as Nigeria.

 

Tinubu made the statement while speaking during the Kaduna State Investment Summit (KadInvest 7.0) on Saturday.

 

Appealing to El-Rufai not to leave the country in pursuit of higher degrees after his tenure as governor, Tinubu said the nation is now in dire need of creative thinkers like the Kaduna governor.

 

“Nigeria needs thinkers and doers. I’m openly begging Nasir El-Rufai not to run away for additional degree. There are lots of educated relics. We are not going to let you run away,” asserted Tinubu while mounting the podium on Saturday.

 

“Your vision, creativity and resiliency in turning a rotten situation into a bad one is necessary at this critical time,” the APC presidential flag bearer added.

Apparently unaware of the gaffe, Tinubu did not make any effort to correct himself. The gaffe would be the latest addition to his slurred and incoherent comments at public functions.

 

Predictably, spokesman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, in a tweet, pointed out Tinubu’s gaffe at the Kadinvest 7.0.

 

However, the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesman Bayo Onanuga described Tinubu’s statement as a slip.

 

Onanuga noted that Tinubu actually meant that Malam Nasir El Rufai had turned the ‘rotten situation’ he met on ground to a ‘great one’, instead of a ‘bad one’.

 

Yet another PDP stalwart, Reno Omokri with #Tableshaker, in a tweet, said what Tinubu needs is our prayers, not our votes.

 

Responding in more details, Onanuga said: “Earlier today (Saturday) 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 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 ground in Kaduna into “a bad one” whereas he meant to say “to a great one.”

 

“It was a mere slip; that is not unusual in life, even among leaders of nations. We recognise we are in 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 productive things to do with their time.”