Demola Olarewaju, a Senior Political Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has indirectly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term in office.

This was after Saraki appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday, where he addressed the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki, a former Governor of Kwara State, was asked if his friendship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, indicated an endorsement of President Tinubu.

He said, “You can’t extrapolate that. My friendship is based on what we are going to do about this party.

“I found his style, his views might be different, but that PDP must not die. PDP must be able to provide a platform for people to contest elections. That, I do not in any way doubt, is the sincerity where he stands, that’s where I stand.”

On calls for the Presidency to remain in the South, which favours a Tinubu re-election, Saraki said, “Nigerians chose to elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the South in 2023. I think it is only fair, in my view, to allow the South to complete the eight years.”

Reacting, Atiku’s aide, Olarewaju, described Saraki’s words as an indirect endorsement of President Tinubu for a second term in office.

He shared on X, “Respect to Sen. Bukola Saraki, but arguing for Southern President while Tinubu is in power is an indirect endorsement of Tinubu’s second term and an ignoring of Nigeria’s tripartite balance at Independence in 1960, and 6 zone arrangement since 1999.”