Former spokesman of ex-Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Segun Sowunmi, on Monday, cautioned President Bola Tinubu against betraying ex-governors of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai and Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, if he’s interested in contesting for a second term.
Showunmi said El-Rufai and Bello campaigned vigorously for Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election but have been left out of power, a situation that looks like a betrayal.
In a statement he signed, the PDP chieftain said El-Rufai and Bello, having being facing political travails after leaving office despite helping Tinubu to become president.
He noted that the poor treatment meted to El-Rufai and Bello by Tinubu’s government goes against the long-term understanding between Yorubas and the north.
Showunmi said: “Upon reflection on the trajectory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his journey to the presidency, I find my mind wondering if my Yoruba Uncle is still the same person that I have always known and admired.
“You might need to think through this to understand me. The Yorubas already carry misconceptions about betrayal, that we don’t keep our end of the bargain. That we use and dump people. That we are cunning around the power play.
“Nasir el-Rufai, say what you will about him, he supported Asiwaju fully during the primaries and the general elections. Pray, how has he been treated? Same el-Rufai now has a security report that humiliated him during a Senate clearance made up of a majority of Tinubu men! What would the world call that but betrayal?
“Now, Yahaya Adoza Bello, who practically fought like a madman to give Asiwaju good numbers in Kogi, not to talk of how he funded and ran the youth campaign with vigour and energy to the extent that I was so jealous compared to the disorganised charade of my PDP.
“Same Yahaya Bello who superintended over the membership registration of APC that to date I cannot but remember comparing the bliss and pageantry to the joke that my PDP ran under the Edo emperor.
“Pray, is that the same GYB that is embarrassed to the level we are all witnessing? If this is not a betrayal, I would like someone to tell me what can be a betrayal than this.
“Do you plan to contest a second term or do you think your work will be done in one term of just four years? Shall tomorrow not come? Where are the men of yesterday?
“Akanni omo olodo ide, you know that on a deep level of nation-building, I won’t allow partisan politics to prevent me from saying it as I see it. You may need to understand that power must be shared and that the world over, people must feel protected by an arrangement they help bring about.”
