Lai: You can’t separate Buhari’s achievements from Tinubu’s presidential bid

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidential bid of Bola Tinubu, standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are “inseparable”.

Speaking on Friday on a Television Continental (TVC) programme, the minister also explained why Tinubu is the “major beneficiary” of the achievements of the Buhari administration.

“They are inseparable (Buhari’s scorecard and Tinubu’s presidential bid). It is one thing if Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was contesting on an independent platform, which is not available,” he said.

“It is a different thing if he is coming in from another party, say Labour, then he can base his campaign on what he is going to do. But if your party has spent eight years in power and you cannot tell me what they have done, why should I vote for you?

“The major beneficiary of the scorecard is the incoming president by the grace of God, that is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Why? Because Buhari is not running. Two people are the major beneficiaries, the party and its candidate.

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not an independent candidate. He is running on the platform of APC. The scorecard has given us a platform to debunk certain allegations against the government and its candidate by the opposition.”

Mohammed also said it is unfair to say that he has not been participating in the campaign rallies of Tinubu.

“That’s quite unfair and untrue that I have been missing in action. There are many ways to skin a cat and many ways you can support a campaign,” he said.

“You can contribute financially or be in the think tank and I think with all sense of humility, I have been there. I was in Lagos for his rally, I was in Katsina for his rally, I was in Lafia for the rally and in Ilorin for the rally.

“So what I have been doing (scorecard series) is equivalent to a political rally and I have done 25 of them.”