IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential l, Festus Keyamo, has addrelssed the controversy around the identity of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling party.
There have been claims on social media that Tinubu is an indigene of Osun State and that his real name is Amoda Ogunlere.
The critics of the former governor of Lagos State said Tinubu changed his names at different times to hide his record.
Reacting to the controversy, Keyamo during a Twitter Spaces conversation organised by Tinubu’s media team on Sunday, 11 September, said the former governor of Lagos state is qualified to be president whether he comes from Osun or Lagos state.
He said the controversy surrounding Tinubu’s identity is a disrespect to Amoda and Tinubu family.
He argued that the Amodas in Osun have not claimed Tinubu as their son, adding that the Tinubus in Lagos have not denied him either.
His words: “The Constitution section 131, Paragraph A says you have to be a Nigerian by birth. That’s the first requirement. So if Tinubu is from Osun State or from Lagos State, thank God they are not saying he is from Cameroon.
He is not in the mode of those who claimed to come from one part of the country whereas by the time they were born that part of the country was in Cameroon.
“So whether Asiwaju is from Osun, Lagos or anywhere, Asiwaju is from Nigeria. So Asiwaju is qualified. It is very disrespectful and unfair to just generate cock and bull story against families.
Either the family from Osun State, Amoda Ogunlere or the Tinubu family, you are disrespecting the families.
The Amoda family has not come out to say this is my son or my brother and the Tinubu family has also not denied him.
So what are they looking for? Is it that the Amoda family or Ogunlere family are not Nigerians or they are of lesser human beings. They need to tell us what they are saying.”
Describing Tinubu as a nationalist, Keyamo said that in 2007, the former governor gave Atiku the presidential ticket of his party on a platter of gold.
He said, “In 2007, Asiwaju decided to call on Atiku who had been thrown out of the PDP at that time because Obasanjo ordered a re-registration of all PDP members because he wanted to weed out people like Atiku.
“And so when Atiku went back to his Jada ward, even as Vice-President, they refused to give him a membership card. That was how they threw Atiku out of the PDP. What happened? Asiwaju had already oiled the political machine called the AC at the time. He invited Atiku and gave him the ticket on a platter of gold. Asiwaju could have gone for President but he saw the mood of the nation because Obasanjo was just finishing his Presidency.
So he knew that the presidency could not remain in the South. That’s a kind of nationalist, patriotic person that Asiwaju is. He decided to give Atiku the ticket, Atiku failed in 2007.
“In 2011, Asiwaju was still the leader of the ACN, he had every right to pick the ticket of the party, he did not. He decided to invite Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to run for President.
And what happened after 2011, he stretched his hand across the Niger through President Muhammadu Buhari and created a platform and supported President Muhammadu Buhari. At every point in time Asiwaju has put the nation before himself.
“He has never thought of himself. He bided his time and when the North had finished its eight years, that was what brought the popular phrase of Emilokan. He is not doing it as a matter of right, but he is just saying that ‘I have paid my due.
He explained that ‘Emi lokan’ mantra implies that it’s time for Nigerians to look at Tinubu’s way and make him the president, adding that the presidential candidate was not arrogant about the mantra.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment further said when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was ‘thrown out’ of the party, Tinubu gave him a lifeline.
He added that the PDP is in crisis because of Atiku’s decision to contest by not respecting the party’s zoning principle.