The chances of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, clinching the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), narrowed on Friday, following the attack from his strong supporter and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over his outburst on Thursday.
In a statement he issued on Friday, Babachir, specifically lamented the damage done by Tinubu’s utterances in Ogun State on Thursday, stressing that it heightened the fear and insecurity of Northerners under a Yoruba presidency.
He added that it has pushed most northerners “to rethink our support for not only Bola but any Yoruba as president for that matter.”
His words: “Sometimes it is very difficult to support a Yoruba person in national politics if you are not one. They have a way of making you regret your support because they eventually make you seem like a traitor to your own people.
“Now all these comments about Bola’s Yoruba presidency and his support of Buhari without which Buhari would not have been president is bullshit. He wasn’t the only one whose support made a difference. There were many others from all around the country and they are not bragging about it.
“You may wish to know that all of us Buhari supporters are shocked and pissed off by Bola’s speech on this occasion. It is unlike him. And this speech is massively trending in the North and being given a negative connotation as you can well imagine.
“I first read it this morning on an Adamawa group platform and the anger is palpable and all round. Will Tinubu win Monday’s APC primaries without Northern support? You would think Yorubas will resist the temptation of joining in the northerners-bashing game at this very critical time – the primary election is only three days away.
“It is unfortunate that Bola himself chose to join in this bashing game – choosing to speak in the Yoruba language and in Yoruba land in a manner that seems to denigrate Buhari. I could vividly imagine the discomfort of all the northerners sitting beside him on that podium.
“This appears to be the Abiola saga being replayed. Abiola won the election with majority of Northern votes but they took the brunt of the post-election protests that followed. Just survey all the people that are doing more meaningful practical things to enthrone Bola as president, and you will find that almost all are northerners while his kinsmen engage themselves on social media activism and Northern bashing.
“When Yorubas vilify the North like this, our sense of fear and insecurity under a Yoruba presidency gets heightened and in the end, pushes us to rethink our support for not only Bola but any Yoruba as president for that matter.”
