Stop victimisation of el-Rufai, Bello, APC chieftain tells Tinubu 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jesutega Onokpasa, has again appealed to President Bola Tinubu to stop those around him from hounding former governors Nasir el-Rufai and Yahaya Bello of Kaduna and Kogi states, respectively.

He maintained that the continued persecution of the ex-governors, despite the huge role they played in the emergence of Tinubu’s presidency was already making people scared of supporting the president in the future.

   While addressing Tinubu in a video clip that has now gone viral, the popular Tinubu loyalist, Onokpasa, insinuated that those using the anti-graft agencies to persecute the former governors were doing so for their selfish interests. According to him, this is giving room for the speculation that APC is a party that uses and dumps loyalists, “stab them at the back and throw them under the bus.”

   The APC chieftain and member of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, also urged the president to forgive the former governors, whom he described as his sons in case they had offended him.

   “These (Bello and El-Rufai) are our people, our dear northern compatriots that we relied on to come to power. We know where we won, we know where we lost, we know where our votes came from. These whole thing mystifies me but nobody is able to give me any concrete information as to what is Yahaya’s crime, what is el-Rufai’s malfeasance to the extent that he would. I mean basically be deceived that he has been nominated as a minister, then he goes there, somebody says there is a security report that disqualifies him from being a minister.

   “The security report that didn’t disqualify him from being a minister, the one that didn’t disqualify him from being a two-term governor of Kaduna. So, suddenly, the same security report disqualified him from being a minister in this administration. Nobody takes these things seriously.

   “With all that is available with me, it is all witch-hunts. Some people are even boasting that they want to give Yahaya the Emefiele treatment. Yahaya took Emefiele to court on your behalf, for your own good, for our collective good. He, alongside el-Rufai and Bello Matawalle. There is no need for all this.”

   He maintained that he doesn’t want any appointment from this administration other than the demand for fairness as regards the former governors.