Say ex-president envious of Tinubu’s record, goofs backing LP

Yoruba youths, under the aegis of Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA), yesterday, condemned former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) ahead of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement made available to The Guardian in Ibadan by Habib Olalekan Hammed (National President) and Olawale Ajao (National Secretary), the group said that the former president’s letter did not come as a surprise to them. The group alleged that Obasanjo endorsed Obi out of envy of Tinubu’s intimidating profile.

“The letter he wrote to endorse Peter Obi and abase APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is one of his (Obasanjo) usual deeds. It has no iota of effect on Tinubu’s chance of becoming Nigeria’s president.

“You can’t have a tree in your compound and be unaware of its fruit.”

“Obasanjo dislikes anyone breaking his records and he has always been like that. Let’s revisit history,” the statement stated.

ALSO, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have taken a swipe at Obasanjo over his endorsement of Obi.The APC leaders said that Obasanjo’s action ahead of the presidential election was contrary to the South-West geopolitical zone’s position that it should produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.

The leaders, led by Chairman of the party in the state, Ade Adetimehin; former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Taofiq Olawale Abdulsalam and former governorship aspirant of the APC, Dr. Segun Abraham, stated this, yesterday, at a rally in Ikare-Akoko in Akoko North East council to seek support for Tinubu.

Adetimehin said the endorsement of Tinubu and the blessing given by the leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, supersedes that of Obasanjo.

He maintained that Tinubu is most qualified and competent, having served as governor, senator and national leader of the ruling APC. Abdulsalam said the endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo was because he was envious of the record of Tinubu in Yorubaland.

“I am a Yoruba man, and Yoruba in the South-West know Obasanjo; he never like someone that will outdo him. He doesn’t like talented people, and he will never support people with talent. He despised Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief MKO Abiola and others.

“We know that Obasanjo can never support Tinubu. He doesn’t want anybody from Yorubaland to become president, and we are not surprised about that.”

Abraham, who was the runner-up in the APC primary that produced Oluwarotimi Akeredolu as governor, said: “When it comes to electoral value and voting, Obasanjo has failed Nigerians woefully. Obasanjo even lost his own unit in 1999. We don’t respect him when it comes to electoral value. He is not the one who will tell us who to vote for in the coming general elections. I know that people will not even vote for Obi in his own house or unit.”