Lai Mohammed has explained why talks on an alliance between Bola Tinubu and the late Muhammadu Buhari did not succeed in 2011.
Mr Mohammed spoke in an interview with political content creator Edmund Obilo on Thursday.
He said both sides did not agree on who should be the running mate.
He said Buhari had already chosen Tunde Bakare as his running mate at the time.
According to Mohammed, members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) argued that they controlled six states and asked for the vice-presidential slot in the proposed alliance.
“Now we in ACN argued powerfully that, look, we control six states. You, CPC, control only one state. We are even ready to submit ourselves to your platform and contest under the CPC,” he said.
“Use your colours and everything, and we’re asking of you for only one thing, and you are not giving us? Our people will accuse us that we have sold them out.”
Lai Mohammed said the disagreement led to both sides contesting separately in the 2011 election.
“On that point, we went our separate ways, and of course we both lost again in 2011. By 2012, it became clear to both Tinubu and Buhari that they needed one another,” he said.
The present All Progressives Congress (APC) was later formed through a coalition that included the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
