The Akwa Ibom State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Organisation has asked the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to immediately apologise to the state for insulting and denigrating the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
It accused the former Lagos State governor of making what it called derisively contrived remarks against Governor Emmanuel and the State during the APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, the state capital, on Monday.
The state PDP campaign council quoted Tinubu to have said: “Dear Akwaibomites, that Boy that calls himself Governor, that brought Atiku here, he lives in my backyard in Lagos, you people should tell him enough is enough. If not that we are one, I would have chased him away from Lagos, I will use lizards, pythons and scorpions to chase him away.”
But, in a statement signed by the director general PDP campaign, Ambassador Assam E. Assam (SAN), the campaign organisation said by calling Governor Emmanuel, the “political symbol, source of authority and identity” of the people and State a mere ‘boy’, Tinubu has “insulted, denigrated and stereotyped the entire people of Akwa Ibom State.”
According to the DG, the APC presidential candidate “subtly elevated the previous noxious narrative from which our people have since Arisen (dakkada) and repudiated as those who are only good at certain layers of the Nigerian socio-political space.”
He recalled what he described as the “several verbal gaffes, some logically bewildering”, which he said call to question the mental acuity of Timubu, “and his capacity to execute the functions of the office he seeks”.
Noting that Tinubu has, however, crossed the line with the statement credited to him, Assam said, “Even if he was doused with substances he is famous for that, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, would refer to an elected State Governor, a leader of over 7 million proud people, a State that is today, generally adjudged as Nigeria’s Best kept secret.
“The only subnational with a thriving commercial airline, the state with perhaps the best road network and other infrastructure in the nation, a Seven-Star Governor as a ‘boy’ reveals him as the lowest of the gutter-snipes.
“That Tinubu, a 70 year old man, though with a 62 year old daughter, aspiring to become the President of Nigeria, would subliminally threaten the safety of other Nigerians who have found residence in Lagos, as he did, by saying if “we are not one, I would have chased him away from Lagos” clearly exposes his ineptitude and inability to lead.
“The statement supports the stories of underhanded tactics that are being deployed in Lagos State by agents associated with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to deny other Nigerians the right to exercise their civic and constitutional responsibility of voting.
“While we acknowledge the fact that his cognitive decline is at an advanced state, that he could refer to the Presidential Candidate of our great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as a former Senate President, a position our Candidate never occupied, is perplexing.”
Demanding immediate apology from Tinubu, the state PDP campaign team said: “We hereby demand an immediate apology by Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the people of Akwa Ibom State for calling our leader a ‘boy’ and also demand an immediate repudiation of the said statement by the Akwa Ibom State APC chieftains, notably Senator Godswill Akpabio who stood there at the podium and cheered as their Presidential Candidate, insulted the collective identity and pride of the Akwa Ibom people.”
