THERE
was controversy on Saturday over the alleged invitation by the Democratic
Party’s National Convention to the leader of Action Congress of
Nigeria(ACN), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, following a publication by an
online medium which described the invitation card as purchased.
A
statement attributed to Tinubu’s media aide, Mr. Sunday Dare, earlier in the
week, had indicated that Tinubu was invited to the Democratic National
Convention in the United States of America, where President Barack Obama got
his second term ticket on Thursday.
“Tinubu
will be at the ring side as the Democratic Party conducts activities that will
culminate in the nomination of President Barack Obama as its candidate for the
November 2012 presidential elections in the USA.
“Tinubu
received a gold card invitation, which is prime; and with this, he will be
joined by three other eminent personalities: Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti
State; Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji; and a
former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, Mr Dele
Alake.”
The
statement claimed that Tinubu was invited as the leader of opposition in
Nigeria.
But
Sharpedge news, an online publication said on Saturday that the claims were
false and that Tinubu obtained the invitation card after paying the sum of
$5,000.
Quoting
a DNC source, Sharpedge news, explained that the invite that was given to
Tinubu was a generic type that similarly went to whoever donated more than
$5,000 to the Obama campaign.
The
publication said that the invitation did not come directly from US President,
Barack Obama.
According
to the publication, Obama did not personally extend “a gold card invitation” to
Tinubu to attend the Democratic Party convention in Charlotte, North Carolina,
in the US.
“The
invitation card sent to Tinubu, the former senator from Nigeria, was generic;
and it generally goes from the campaign organisation and not personally from
President Obama,” the highly placed source explained to the online agency.
But
an associate of the former governor of Lagos State, who declined to be named,
said that the controversy was part of a smear campaign against the ACN leader.
He
said that the former governor had so many appointments to keep and did not have
to go to the convention by hook or crook.
“I
think you should just discountenance this smear campaign. Asiwaju has so many
events to attend across the world and he does not need to attend an event in
the US if he was not invited,” the associate said.
His
media aide, Sunday Dare, could not be reached on his mobile phone numbers as he
was said to have followed the former governor on the trip.
Meanwhile,
former Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Mr Yinka
Odumakin, condemned the development, describing it as an integrity question
that has arisen.
“Although
I am yet to get details, the news is all over the internet; so my contribution
on this issue is based on what is circulating.
“To
be candid, it will be a sad development if what the Democratic Party has said
is true; how can someone say he or she was personally invited by Obama when
actually the reality is that anybody can obtain that kind of invitation upon
the payment of the said sum of $5,000?
“One
wonders the kind of show off or fame behind such move because it is totally
uncalled for and if the motive is to deceive the people by showing what one is
not, then it becomes more unfortunate and condemnable in all ramifications; a
big integrity question is at play,” the former spokesman of the Save Nigeria
Group (SNG) told Sunday Tribune.
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