APC PCC to Akintoye: Your Statement Misdirected, Divisive

Adedayo Akinwale

The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the statement credited to the leader of the Yoruba Nation Self-Determination Struggle, Prof. Banji Akintoye as  misdirected, misplaced and divisive.

Akintoye had earlier in a statement said that the  presidential candidate of APC,  Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s ambition was premised on “personal interest” and not of the Yoruba people

But reacting, the Director of  Media and  Publicity, Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga said APC found it quite preposterous the professor’s sweeping  accusation that Tinubu was only pursuing his personal interest in running for the presidency of Nigeria.

He described the statement as malicious and unwarranted.

Onanuga noted that Tinubu was contesting for Nigeria’s presidency because of his readiness to render unflinching service to Nigerians and because of his abiding faith in a strong, united and prosperous Nigeria where every man and woman, regardless of their ethnicity and religious beliefs, can be proud and prosperous.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to an unfortunate, misdirected, misplaced and divisive statement credited to Professor Banji Akintoye, in which his group threatened to pull the South West out of Nigeria.

“To be candid, there are several agitation groups in the South West and in other parts of Nigeria who wrongly think the best way to demand for justice and fairness is through break-up of our country.

“And since there has been no referendum held in Yorubaland about whether to stay in Nigeria or not and no such referendum has been held in any part of Nigeria, it is then appropriate to assume that this separatist idea is basically Akintoye and his group’s sole idea.

“We join other bona-fide and critical stakeholders in Yorubaland to advise Professor Akintoye not to plunge our people into a needless and precipitate crisis or create another Rwanda.”

Onanuga explained that most of the issues around the structure of Nigeria’s federalism raised in Akintoye’s poorly thought-out statement have been sufficiently addressed in Tinubu’s Action Plan with his promise to address some of the problems and the will to make the states to be more viable as federating units by devolving more powers to them.

He noted that Akintoye’s claim that Asiwaju Tinubu was using his old video to campaign was  untrue.

Onanuga stated categorically that Tinubu and his campaign organisation have  neither used such video nor need to use it in any form.

According to him, Asiwaju Tinubu’s towering figure, intimidating credentials, unparalleled track record of achievements, his remarkable political sagacity, demonstrable managerial capacity, and nationally acclaimed transformative vision, knowledge and courage all eloquently bear testimony to his qualification for the presidency of Nigeria.

Onanuga emphasised that Tinubu is not a hopeless tribalist and definitely not a delusional ethnic irredentist.

He said Tinubu believes in Nigeria and its manifest great destiny, saying he was prepared to provide the required leadership to make the country one of the best nations on earth.