A national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, on Tuesday, urged Nigerians who have been accusing President
Muhammadu Buhari of being too slow to allow the President at least 100
days of honeymoon.
He said change, which was at the centre of the party’s campaign ahead
of the presidential election, would not be achieved with a magic wand.
Tinubu spoke with State House correspondents shortly after meeting
behind closed-door with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“May 29 was when this President was sworn in. It is an international
norm, there is an honeymoon period, at least a minimum of 100 days’
honeymoon. And you won’t allow honeymoon at all? You said change is not
coming. Change is not by magic. It is driven by the people, the spirit
and the character and the planning,” he said.
The
former Lagos State governor said the nation had witnessed many problems
in the past because policies were made in a hurry without proper
planning.
He said it was better for the government to take its time to plan,
than to rush into taking actions because of sentiments and emotions.
He added, “It is not fair to jump into those conclusions (that change
is late in coming). There must be time to plan, to review and even
listen to people.
“There is a separation between a campaign period, articulating your
vision, expressing the promises to Nigerians, there is a time to look
holistically at what you inherited, analyse it, distill and then take
action.
“Even in a 100 metres race, there is a time to say ‘on your mark, set, ready, go.’
“So, you don’t even want a time to be on your mark, set and go? No, you are not being fair.”
The president met members of your party in the House of
Representatives that ended in deadlock. What is your position in all
these?
On the leadership crisis in the National Assembly, Tinubu said it was
only the conclusion of the media that the peace meeting called by
Buhari on Monday ended in a deadlock.
He said rather, his position was that there was a political process
that needed to develop its own life and be worked upon to stabilise and
continue to serve the interest of the populace.
Tinubu said by the time the National Assembly started its lawmaking
in earnest, the President needed to step in once in a while as he did in
order to let the people to understand the import of the expectations of
the public and particularly of the international community on various
programmes and institutions.
He said Buhari’s decision to step in to douse the tension was not a wrong step.
The former governor said he decided to visit the President to welcome
him from what he described as successful trip to the United States of
America and to ensure that the party remained on track