By Austen AKHAGBEME:

A few days before the APC primary elections, every remaining stone that needed to be hurled at Tinubu and his avowed resolve to clinch the party’s ticket by those who do not like him, was hurled.

This was after a seemingly devastating blow within his political family when earlier on, his political son, the esteemed Prof Yemi Osinbanjo, square off for a political bout with him.

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola did his, too. He called Tinubu out over the Osun state APC gubernatorial primary election as his preferred candidate seems to be losing the grip on the ticket. The former governor of the state of Osun was a known adherent of Senator Bola Tinubu.

That was within the house. Outside the house was full of detractors, naysayers and soothsayers of gloom and doom, haters and political opponents who were all entitled to their opinion and stances, though. Yet Tinubu took all of the tirades in his stride, his eyes on the ball.

Then, what seems like the last straw that broke the camel’s back for Bola Tinubu was the Abeokuta outcry where he vehemently berated his political beneficiaries including President Buhari, accusing them of crass ingratitude and forgetfulness.

Why the party chairman was rumoured to have threatened sanctions against the Jagaban for firing such a salvo against the President, most people outside the political cycle saw the action as an ego trip and undue braggadocio.

This, according to these armchair politicians, was supposed to trigger a negative commensurate response from the northern power bloc which will affect his chances for the primary election. But this turned out to be the “joker” of some sort. Everyone begins to rightly or wrongly imagine the crisis and consequences of wrongfully denying Bola Tinubu the party ticket.

But just like the APC Presidential flagbearer said, he has long left that behind as he forgives and forges ahead. It was a long drawn battle, fought from all known and unknown angles and that which saw to the deployment of deft political calculations, miscalculations and corrections, intrigues and horse-trading that finally got Jagaban the ticket.

To Asiwaju BolaTinubu, the ball is now in your court. This is the time to let the world and Nigerians know your ever robust plans to take us out of the wood. Congratulations, sir.

• Austen AKHAGBEME is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online