APC sources: Why Osinbajo visited Tinubu in Abuja

By Chijioke Okoronkwo/ News Agency of Nigeria

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo paid a visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday in Abuja.

However, sources from the camp of APC insisted that the visit was not for any political purposes but a friendly one.

APC officials who witnessed the meeting said expectations in some quarters might suggest something different but it was a courtesy call based on the duo’s longstanding relationship.

Though Osinbajo’s stand on the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket has been clear and has pitched him against some party stalwarts, the sources believe that his relationship with Tinubu is still cordial.

Citing previous meetings between the two after the presidential primaries earlier in June, they noted that Osinbajo’s latest visit to Tinubu was in response to an earlier visit from Tinubu to the vice president after the primaries.

Tinubu had paid the vice-president a visit at his Aguda House residence in the Presidential Villa in June.

They both met later at the Ministerial Retreat in the Presidential Villa in October.

“The fact that both leaders contested against each other at the primaries does not make them enemies because I know the vice-president is an ‘Owolabi’.

”He has high regard for BAT, who I also know to be very close to the vice president, and this he has demonstrated at different times.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Osinbajo’s visit to Tinubu was merely in the spirit of the Christmas season.

“Besides, such a visit can be best termed as reciprocal after Tinubu paid the vice president a similar visit in the past,” an APC source said.

Another source, who also pleaded anonymity said it was only customary, in the spirit of Christmas, for leaders to exchange visits and nothing less.