A former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Leke Pitan, says he is in good terms with the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and the Lagos State Governor-elect, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

Pitan, who lost to Ambode at the APC governorship primary last year, was absent at the party’s rallies, fuelling speculation that he had a misunderstanding with the party leadership.

However, the former commissioner told our correspondent that he had no problem with Tinubu or Ambode.

He admitted that there were issues but maintained that such disagreements are normal in politics.

He said, “I don’t want to go into the past anymore. We have got over that. Internal mechanisms within our group and outside the party sorted that out, so that we could face the elections in unity. So, I don’t want to go into all that anymore.

“It was in a bid not to allow such pressure to affect the party that I travelled out of the country and returned before the elections and I performed creditably.”

On his relationship with Tinubu, he said, “He is the leader of the APC. We have no problem at all. Did you hear that we had fisticuffs? Like in any party, there will always be differences and issues but we resolved them.”

Pitan said he travelled out of the country after losing the primary because he did not want to ‘rock the boat’.

He, however, said he mobilised his supporters for the success of the party.

He said, “There were internal party discussions after which I travelled out in order to avoid pressures from supporters who may want you to react or do something untoward and I wanted to avoid this. I knew it was critical that we did not rock the boat of the party or tear the party apart because I realised that it could lead to serious consequences, and I had to look at the larger picture.

“With the benefit of hindsight, you will notice that it was a divine decision because the gap (between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party) was just about 10 per cent. A mere six per cent would have tipped the scales. That means if we had rocked the boat at that time, it would have led to devastating consequences.”

Pitan, who also served as commissioner for education during Tinubu’s administration, denied taking the APC to court over the primary.He said, rather, he was one of the defendants in the case