‘Jonathan insulted our parents’

Bola Tinubu, the former Governor of Lagos State and chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria, has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s comments about the southwest as an “insult” to the Yoruba ethnic group.

Mr Jonathan, had last week, expressed his displeasure with the ousting of People’s Democratic Party governors in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, describing the beneficiaries of their exit as “rascals.” Following prolonged legal battles, the Appeal Court ordered the removal of Olusegun Agagu, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola from office as respective governors of Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, declaring their challengers as the lawful winners of elections that originally brought them in.

“The southwest is too important to be left in the hands of rascals,” the president had said. “We must take it over from them. The ruling party must take over Lagos. We must also take over Osun and Ekiti states.”

However, presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro, the next day, said that “at no time did the president ascribe the ‘rascal’ he mentioned to anyone.” “Please note that the president didn’t call any names when he said the southwest is too important to be left in the hands of rascals,” he said. “So anyone who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do so.”

Tinubu’s grouse

Mr Tinubu, who spoke with journalists, yesterday at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, said that President Jonathan is abusive to have branded southwest leaders as rascals. “I think the president is wrong because that is an insult to our parents,” he said. “It is a speech from a drunk sailor fisherman whose boat is about to capsize. That is an insult to our parents. You don’t come to this land, seek our votes, and then insult our parents that they raised rascals.”

Speaking on the choice of running mate for the party’s presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, the former governor said that reports of clash between him and the party’s flag bearer is false. He also advised journalists to avoid demeaning the integrity of the country’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in their speculations. Describing Mrs Okonjo-Iweala as an individual with outstanding qualities, the former governor said that his party is yet to decide on who will emerge as the running mate to Mr Ribadu. “Is it not very interesting to you to keep the general populace in suspense?,” he said. “Is it not part of a good strategy? She is a very qualified individual and she is an asset. She is an asset to the nation, an asset to Africa, and [to the] international community; and no doubt about that. But you don’t know whether she is even free now.”

Merger possibilities

Mr Tinubu said that the party has the capability of taking over power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, adding that merger with other political platform, though beneficial, may not be adopted by his party now. “Everybody is entitled to his or her own thinking,” he said. “There are so many theories and theoreticians and forecasters and I deal with a political environment where gossip and ordinary speculations work better than deep-rooted thinking and the ideological philosophy of a party is not taken into account. You talked about a party that has been in power for 12 years, isn’t it? Who says that ACN cannot do the magic? It is some thinking from several quarters; we believe that if we pull together it will be better and easier, no one disputes that, but I will never write off my party and I believe Nigerians are tired of PDP and they will speak through their ballot.”


Okechukwu Nnodim