Asiwaju Didn’t Support My Senate Re-election Ambition – Sen. Tinubu

Former Lagos State First Lady now Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Oluremi Tinubu, has revealed that her husband – Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, did not support her running for re-election in the last general elections.

Tinubu made the disclosure Tuesday, while fielding questions at the ongoing “Women in Government” conference organised by the South-West Region of the Department For International Development (DFID).

The conference was organised in collaboration with the Lagos State Office of the Deputy Governor.

The senator said that it was her district leaders who got the form for her and talked her husband, who is the national leader of APC, into allowing her to run for the position.

According to Sen. Tinubu, her husband likes her to be at home, adding that “what is more confusing to me is that most Muslim men do not want their wives to work, but I am a hard worker”.

She also pointed out that “People have been saying that I got to this position because I am Asiwaju’s wife” but that what they did not realize is that “in the past election, my husband asked me not to go for a second term. It was the leaders in my district that got me the form and talked to him that they wanted me to go back”.

She challenged her audience to go to her district and confirm if she was telling the truth or not.

“You can go to my district, the elites might not know me but the grassroots are the ones supporting and voting massively for me.

“I think that is enough for me and that is how you can get elected, you have to really identify with your people; if really know your people, they will stand up for you”, she said.

Sen. Tinubu, however, said it was not all rosy as she had to fight and work hard because in her words, “it was difficult getting the vote of the masses”.

“When I got the bill to run for primaries, I told my husband that I needed money and he said no money. I fought with the people in my constituency because they said I have to give them more money and I said no, what about the ones I have been giving to you before?

“If you are not going to vote, so be it. They said that they were just voting for me because of Asiwaju and I responded that Asiwaju is not even supporting me, then, you can go and vote for him. But I’m grateful they voted for me”, she said.

The former Lagos first lady also gave a word of advice to politicians. “I have realized that when you are elected, you have to go back and work with your constituency because that is where your support and vote rests”, she said.