A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hafiz Abubakar, has urged the party leadership to call to order the supporters of former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu.
Abubakar, a former Deputy Governor of Kano State, in a statement Saturday, condemned the attacks on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by Tinubu’s supporters.
“Asiwaju’s campaigners are playing a risky game that the party and administration should call them to order on,” the APC chieftain said in the statement.
“Attacking the VP’s official capacity and his achievements in the same APC government is tantamount to ‘biting one’s nose to spite one’s face.’”
Osinbajo formally declared his intention to run for the Office of the President on April 11. Shortly after his declaration, Tinubu’s supporters flooded social media with claims of how the vice president is a ‘Judas’ and how he ‘betrayed’ his former principal.
The spokesperson of the APC in Lagos State, Seye Oladejo, in a terse statement criticising Osinbajo’s declaration, questioned the vice president’s handling of Nigeria’s economy.
Osinbajo served as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 while Tinubu was governor.
“Asiwaju’s lieutenants are denigrating their own party and their own government,” Abubakar said.
“The same way Asiwaju has a right to aspire, so does anyone else in the country, especially a sitting Vice President with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s credentials and record.”
Abubakar said the attacks on the vice president’s character, person, economic responsibility, and religious affiliation are quite deplorable.
“Let us have a contest of ideas for the ticket of the party, not a contest of backbiting, libel, and name-calling,” he said.
“Asiwaju should call his people to order and exercise the leadership he is known for. This approach is a red flag on him and it is a black eye on the party, the president, and administration at large.
“You cannot attack the vice president and not be attacking the president or the administration.
“It is disappointing and party leaders and the new NWC should take charge in the discussions to avoid a dampening of the party’s fortune.”
Abubakar urged Tinubu and his team to work together with everyone to support the party and government to achieve its goals in the time left, and “not throw stones in a house that they helped build.”