By Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The estranged deputy spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has said the account given by retiring former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, over what happened during the 2003 bid for the presidential ticket of the party were mere lies designed to gain cheap popularity.
Frank who is a known ally of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, challenged the former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), to tell Nigerians one good thing he will be remembered for or keep quiet
Anenih, who served as the Minister of Works and Housing between 1999 and 2002, had said in his book titled: ‘My Life and Nigerian Politics,’ which was presented in Abuja at weekend, that Atiku became too ambitious during the build-up to the 2003 presidential election in which Obasanjo was seeking a second term.
However, Frank said Anenih lied on his 2003 account, adding that more than 22 PDP governors were strongly behind Atiku to contest the presidency but the Turaki Adamawa stepped down for his boss because of his loyalty.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, Frank said Anenih at this stage should be apologising to Nigerians for the damage he and others did to Nigeria and “even to his own political party, PDP, as it is obvious today.
The statement said it was out of place for Anenih to describe Atiku as an ambitious politician “when he himself was more desperate than Atiku who had opportunity to become president in the past but remained loyal to his boss. “
He said: “It is high time Anenih should also told the world the kind of legacy he is leaving behind in all his years in politics.
“Anenih’s desperation to remain in the corridor of power made him to force former Goodluck Jonathan to run again in 2015 when he knew he (Jonathan) couldn’t win.
“Anenih has lost the moral right to talk about Atiku or any other Nigerian for that matter seeing that he is one of the reasons Nigeria and especially the Niger Delta region is where it is today.
“What has Anenih done for the Niger Delta where he comes from? Instead of using his position to help the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large to find lasting solutions to its numerous challenges, he chose to support Obasanjo’s third term agenda.”
