paid $5000 to obtain a generic invitation from the Democratic Party
campaign office although he claimed to have been personally invited by
President Barack Obama as leader of Nigeria's opposition.
Obama, it has been revealed, did not personally offer the ACN leader
what he has called "a gold card invitation" to attend the party's
convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This development is the latest in Tinubu's line of controversial
claims, some being the controversy surrounding his academic
qualifications, his claim of being a certified public accountant, and
THE discrepancy in his age records.
According to investigations by online medium Sharpedgenews, Tinubu's
invite was a generic kind sent out to donors by the campaign
organisation.
The medium, which is attending the convention, also revealed that the
DNC denied ever inviting Tinubu on any official capacity as the
"leader of opposition" in Nigeria.
His media aide Sunday Dare had said: "Tinubu will be at the ring side
as the Democratic Party conducts activities that will culminate in the
nomination of President Barrack 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."
A DNC source, irked by the news reports, 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 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 while speaking anonymously.
The source said that it would be difficult for anyone to implicate
Obama in attempts to foist a preferred leadership on Nigeria or
Africa, as that would negate the philosophy of Washington's new
international engagement.
"Nigerians are capable of determining its destiny; politicians are
free to strategise but it is immoral to deceive anyone that we are who
we are not," he said. "This gentleman is not like your popular
national icon, businessman Moshood Abiola, who was well-grounded...
and at home with many people in government and private sector."
He added that Americans would not want to be dragged into the affairs
of any country through personal preferences, reiterating that Tinubu
"did what he had to do in order to gain access to the convention
ground."