The story Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State is telling the country might not be all there is, to why his political manifesto was released unofficially, but later denied officially.
Tinubu`s campaign manifesto circulating on social media may be a kite flying strategy to gauge response for or against the content of the manifesto.
The response and criticisms will give guidance and help to see what works and what does not work.
This is another side to the story, but is definitely what the political strategist, who himself is the master of the game would not readily admit.
This explains why his campaign organization have tried to explain the circulating document in the way that suits their purpose and strategy.
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) said recently that Senator Bola Tinubu`s manifesto, the All Progressives Congress Presidential (APC) candidate, which is circulated on the social media even till this minute is not the official campaign manifesto of the Jagaban.
This denial was disclosed in a statement issued by the TCO Director of Media and Communication, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.
However, the TCO admitted that the said manifesto is a draft proposal. It also said that the version circulating contains suggestions on the real manifesto of the APC presidential candidate.
Notwithstanding this admission, the TCO Director opined that the circulating manifesto is a private initiative of some party chieftains, who prepared and proposed them for Senator Tinubu`s consideration as his programs if elected in the February 2023 presidential election.
However, the fact that the former Lagos State governor has neither accepted nor endorsed the propositions leaves much for political pundits to ponder about in the permutations.
Notably, the statement did not directly or indirectly disclose if the APC presidential candidate has rejected the manifesto or any part of it.
This clearly leaves room for the former Senator and now presidential candidate of the ruling APC to openly reject the manifesto if it attracts poor or negative response from the Nigerian public.
With this in mind, it is therefore, difficult to ignore the notion in some quarters that Bola Tinubu is doing what he knows how to do best – the game of political chase and strategizing.
NOTABLE QUOTES
The statement reads in part: “I want to place it on record that the manifesto being circulated via social media platforms and already published by a section of the mainstream media is not the official Manifesto of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and All Progressives Congress for 2023 general election.
“While our presidential candidate appreciates the spirit and efforts of his associates that produced the document being passed around mostly on WhatsApp, we want to clearly state that the document is an unofficial document and Tinubu cannot be held accountable on any of the issues raised in the document.
“The presidential candidate and APC are currently working on an all-embracing manifesto that will inspire the confidence of Nigerians. When the official policy document of Tinubu is ready it will be formally presented to Nigerians and our candidate will be in a position to defend every word that will be contained therein.
“We appreciate the interest and enthusiasm of Nigerians to know about the programmes and policy options Asiwaju Tinubu will pursue in government when elected.”
