Tinubu explains why he was absent when Buhari visited Lagos saying he was outside the country

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has explained his absence during President Muhammadu Buhari's recent visit to Lagos saying he was unavoidably absent because he was out of the country.

Earlier this week, President Buhari paid a working visit to Lagos where he commissioned Nigeria's largest bus terminal at Oshodi. Governors from across the southwest attended the event hosted by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State but Asiwaju Tinubu was conspicuously absent which started rumours of a rift between him and the president.

Some political commentators have suggested that Asiwaju Tinubu stayed away from the event because President Buhari also snubbed his birthday colloquium event held in Abuja last month. With Asiwaju Tinubu believed to have ambitions to run for president in 2023, it is believed that the relationship between himself and President Buhari has become strained of late.

Dismissing such talk as rumour, however, Asiwaju Tinubu's spokesman Tunde Rahman, said the APC leader did not deliberately stay away from Lagos during Buhari’s visit. He added: “Tinubu missed the event because he is currently out of the country.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is not in town as he is currently out of the country. That was why he was not present at the occasion, not otherwise.”