A FORMER Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Jumoke Akinjide, has said that the All Peoples Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is only concerned about his self-ambition.
To Akinjide, who spoke on a radio show called ‘Bo se n lo’ on Lagelu FM 96.7, hosted by Temitayo Oyeladun, on Saturday, February 18, Tinubu was selfish and insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
She claimed that Tinubu, who recently complained about the devastating effects of the Federal governent’s naira redesign policy and fuel scarcity on Nigerians, was only interested in his mandate and not in the suffering of Nigerians.
Akinjide wondered why he had not complained about the plight of Nigerians in the almost eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari administration until now.
She also criticised the APC chieftain for snubbing the Olubadan-in-Council, during his visit to the state on Thursday, saying that the revered traditional ruler and his council of chiefs had waited all day in vain in expectation of welcoming Tinubu to his palace.
She lamented that Tinubu and other APC chieftains had gone to the state governor, Seyi Makinde, and then met with some Obas in Ibadan but went straight to the airport without visiting His Imperial Majesty, the Olubadan of Ibadan.
She described this as “bad” and said that even Presidents would not do such a thing.
She stated that Tinubu’s recent visit to Governor Seyi Makinde indicated that he had abandoned the governorship candidate of his party in the state, Teslim Folarin.
Akinjide also noted that Tinubu had visited Mapo Hall in Ibadan, where he had handed the APC flag to the party’s standard-bearer without any word of campaign for himself or the gubernatorial candidate of the party. She alleged that this showed that Tinubu had subtly abandoned the candidate of his party and supported the PDP candidate.
A former deputy governor of the state, Rauf Olaniyan, who also featured on the Lagelu FM programme, dismissed Akinjide’s allegations as “flimsy.”
Olaniyan suggested that the ruling party in the state was more fragmented, and questioned whether Akinjide had ever followed Makinde to any campaign ground.
He also defended Tinubu’s visit to the state, saying that if he had made a speech at Mapo Hall, he would have cried in appreciation of the reception he received. He added that the crowd was reassuring enough beyond words, and Tinubu had nothing more to say.
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