A former governor of Lagos State and an All Progressive Congress, APC, chieftain, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reacted to a report that he purchased a new airplane.
The former Lagos state governor who some months ago revealed that he sacrificed his slot to become the Vice President of the country in reaction to the report denied the purchase of a new aircraft.
Describing the report as false adding that the publication was partial and unfair, the APC chieftain said in a statement released to the effect: “The THISDAY story of Sunday, July 23, 2017 claiming Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has recently purchased a new airplane is symptomatic of what happens when a publication divorces itself from any pretence of objective and impartial reportage.”
Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Ademola Oshodi, on Tuesday added: “This is what happens when a newspaper becomes a mercenary tool for partisan designs. THISDAY has a partisan axe to grind and it seeks to grind that axe against someone like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu because that is what the paymasters of THISDAY demand of it.
“So eager to be seen as loyal to the whims of its paymasters, THISDAY stands disloyal to the very truth it professes to publish. Rather than practise journalism, this publication now specialises in peddling rumour and manufacturing fake scandal. One of the paper’s favourite excursions into fiction is to publish any and all things false about Bola Tinubu. Why THISDAY has such animus against Tinubu only the paper can answer. That such irrational hatred exists cannot be controverted.”
The statement further pointed out that the pictures attached to the publication was false adding that they were doctored.
“Tinubu has not purchased a new plane. He is currently using the same plane he has used for over a decade now.”
Explaining how he came about the plane, the former Governor stated that the plane which was reported as a new one was the same plane used during the general elections of 2011 and 2015.
He added: “But these merchants of fake news are more interested in attacking perceived enemies than in enlightening the public as should be the call of a newspaper.”
Further describing the report as “sensational, shoddy and false,” the statement added that the media house “would have easily seen that (Mr.) Tinubu’s picture was superimposed to a space he has not been,” in the photos shared online.