You lied on why I left APC. —Saraki blasts Tinubu. I have always restrained from joining issues in the media with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and this is based on my respect for him.

However, I will not allow him to create a wrong, false and mischievous impression about the reasons for my decision to exit the All Progressives Congress (APC) and present his prejudice as facts for public consumption.

No genuine leader of the legislature will be comfortable that the Presidency will simply write a terse letter to the National Assembly on key issues which the federal legislature is expected to later deliberate upon and give its approval.

The Buhari administration consistently treats the legislature with contempt and acts as if the lawmaking body should be an appendage of the Executive. To me, this is unacceptable.

Tinubu himself will recall that during the various meetings he had with me at the time he was pursuing reconciliation within the APC, I raised all the above issues. I can also vividly recall that he himself always expressed his displeasure with the style of the government

Tinubu also mentioned that he had equally suffered disrespect from the same government which we all worked to put in office.I also made the point that whatever travails I hav gone through belong to the past & will not shape my decisions now in the future.

The point of disagreement btw Tinubu & I is that while I expressed my worries that there’s nothing to assure me that the administrative style & attitude would change in the next four years in a manner that will enable us to deliver the positive changes we promised Nigerians,

he (Tinubu) expressed a strong opinion that he would rather ‘support a Buhari on the hospital stretcher’ to get a second term because in 2023, it will be his turn .

This viewpoint of Tinubu was not only expressed to me but to several of my colleagues. So much for acting in national interest.

It is clear that while my own decision is based on protecting the collective national interest, Tinubu will rather live with the identified inadequacies of BUHARI’s led administration for the sake of fulfilling and preserving his presidential ambition in 2023.

This new position of Tinubu has only demonstrated inconsistency — particularly when one reviews his antecedents over the years and what he claim to stand for.

Again, let me reiterate my position that my uncertain and complex relationship with Tinubu has been continually defined by the event of 2014 when myself and other leaders of the APC opposed the Muslim-Muslim ticket arrangement about to be foisted on the APC for the 2015 polls.

It should be noted that he has not forgotten the fact that I took the bull by the horns & told him that in the interest of the country, he should accept the need for the party to present a balanced ticket for the 2015 General Elections in terms of religion &geo-political zones.

Since that time he has been very active; plotting at every point to undermine me when I was in the National Assembly. It should be known that Democracy is a system that allows people to freely make their choices.

It is my choice that I have decided to join others to present a viable alternative platform for Nigerians in the coming elections. Tinubu and leaders of the APC had better respect this decision or lawfully deal with it.

As for me, Allah gives power to whom He wishes. Human beings can only aspire and strive to fulfill their aspirations. So it’s not a do or die affair. ~Saraki, former Senate President