- Against what is spreading online, Tinubu said he made his money from real estate
- Compared himself to Warren Buffett, Tinubu said he inherited great real estate and turned the values around.
Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in a prerecorded interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yesterday described how he made his money, claiming that he did it through real estate and adding that he would not dispute his fortune.
Speaking on a wide range of topics, Tinubu addressed insecurity and claimed that the West was still uneasy with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which is why they didn’t seem to be selling weaponry to his government.
He asserted, however, that Buhari had done his best under the circumstances as the president of the country and had no cause to renounce his reputation as a friend and a strongman.
According to Tinubu, who asserted that he could firmly defend Buhari’s accomplishments in the area of security, the current administration has allegedly reduced insurgency in the nation from the terrifying threat it once was.
When asked about the fact that Nigerians were suffering under the current administration, Tinubu boasted about being a front-runner for the presidency next year and the reason he was receiving arrows from various directions. He responded by saying that because he was Bola Tinubu and not Buhari, the situation would be different under his leadership.
The APC candidate argued that his source of wealth has actually been through real estate, characterizing the majority of those speculating about his wealth or asking questions about him as envious.
More specifically, Tinubu said that those who questioned his financial sources should stop criticizing him if they weren’t anti-wealthy.
“I inherited great real estate and I turned the value around,” he said, stating that he remained the most investigated Nigerian politician to date.
“I have not taken government appointment, no government contract,” Tinubu said, adding that, the allegation that he was in charge of the revenues accruing to Lagos remained unproven, and that he has been investigated several times without any dirt, saying, “It’s envy”.
READ ALSO: 2023: ”I won’t vote Atiku nor Obi if I wasn’t contesting” – Tinubu
His words: “You ought to know how to analyze and how to ask questions, not in the opposite format. Are they enemies of wealth? If they are not enemies of wealth, investment does yield. I have an example of Warren Buffett and one of the richest men in America and in the world, he started by stock buying and brokerages. I inherited great real estate, I turned the values around.
“I’m not denying my wealth, I was the most investigated, the most accused governor in opposition for 8 years and up till 2007. And since I left the office, I have not taken any government appointment, no government contract.”
Defending Buhari, Tinubu said, “Buhari has done his best, I can’t run away from him being my friend, my leader in the party, I will not.”
“To start chaos is easy, to bring normalcy and redecorate is more difficult. Here we are, Buhari has degraded, but not completely eliminated ISWAP. Then we talk briefly of lethal weapons and ammunition and technological equipment that could have helped accelerate the clean-up of those…
“The west is yet to feel comfortable enough with a Buhari administration to sell us the arms. We have to look for alternatives and that includes mass recruitment of a volunteer army,” he stated.
READ ALSO: Tinubu shocked critics expecting ‘blunder’ at Chatham House – APC
If elected, the former governor of Lagos declared that improving security, revitalizing the economy, and emphasizing employment would be his top priorities. He also stressed that he would reform Nigeria’s monetary policy and decide whether to implement fuel subsidies.
He asked Nigerians to support him because he was “different” and because Bola Tinubu had transformed Lagos under his leadership into a contemporary state that could pass for a separate nation.
“I led an administration that was so prudent. We raised Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N600 million to N5 billion a month,” Tinubu stressed, describing it as a record.
Asked what he would do differently as many Nigerians have suffered under the Buhari administration, Tinubu said, “I’m different. I am Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have governed Lagos, I built a modern state that could be a country on its own. I have led an administration that is so prudent. From N600 million internally generated revenue to N5 billion a month. That’s a record, nobody else can brag about that.
“I have tamed the Atlantic ocean surge in Nigeria that would have perished many people in Lagos, the infrastructural renewal of Lagos is excellent. I have continuity in Lagos.”
In other news, the Labour Party candidate for Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State House of Assembly, Chukwunonye Irouno, is dead.
Irouno, a popular master of ceremony in Owerri and the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs and Entertainment to a former governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, died on Monday night in his house in Owerri.
The candidate, who was supposed to be the official MC for Peter Obi’s rally in Owerri on Tuesday died after he and other Labour chieftains had finished inspecting Kanu Nwankwo sports stadium in Owerri, the venue for Obi’s campaign rally in the state on Tuesday.
A friend of the deceased told our correspondent that the politician died a few minutes after arriving at his Owerri residence.
He said, “Irouno has died. He just returned to his house and asked his wife to prepare dinner for him. He went inside his bedroom to freshen up. On getting to his bed, he started behaving funny.
“His children couldn’t understand his action. They went to the kitchen to call their mother. Before his wife could rush to the bedroom, he was dead.
“This is unbelievable. This was a man who was supposed to take charge of the proceedings during the Labour Party presidential rally in Owerri. He died a few minutes after asking his wife to prepare food for him.”
The news of Irouno’s death nearly disrupted the LP campaign rally in Owerri on Tuesday.
Immediately the chairman of the local Organizing Committee for the rally, Kingsley Onunuju, announced his death and called for a minute’s silence in his honor, and the crowd erupted in shouts.
