A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Jesutega Onokpasa, has 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.
Onakpasa, a loyalist of President Tinubu, made the appeal in a detailed video message he released on his social media.
He said the continued persecution of the former governors, despite the huge role they played in the emergence of Tinubu as president, was already making people scared of supporting the President in the future.
Onokpasa insinuated that those using the anti-graft agencies to persecute Bello and el-Rufai were doing so for their selfish interests.
According to him, this is giving room for the speculation that the All Progressives Congress is a party that uses and dumps loyalists.
Onakpasa said: ““You see, this narrative that you do not interfere in the affairs of the anti-graft agencies, my President, nobody believes it. Not when Bayo Onanuga, a presidential spokesman, took it upon himself to start hounding Governor Yahaya Bello that he should submit himself to EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and so on, as if EFCC does not have a spokesman.
“When a presidential spokesman inserts himself into such a matter, he is basically saying you are interfering in the work of anti-graft agencies. They have a spokesman, let the EFCC spokesman speak for the EFCC. Bayo can speak for you.
“At a time, the one we just defeated, defeated hands down, who tried to steal Ododo’s mandate, Muritala Ajaka, his supporters were going all about saying that he is your candidate, that you are the one supporting him.
“In fact, there was a time they were threatening Ododo that he better stab Yahaya Bello in the back or he will lose as if you are the one in control of the Judiciary. I have never seen a bunch of useless, incompetent people like these people hounding Yahaya Bello.”
On speculations that his appointment from Tinubu might have been delayed because of his vociferous condemnation of political vendetta against Bello and El-Rufai, Onokpasa said he preferred that the President puts a stop to the hounding of the former governors to any appointment that might have been prepared for him.
He said: “You see, Asiwaju, I just want to make an appeal to you, this thing about hounding Yahaya Bello and Nasir el-Rufai, it is making people become scared of you. There is this narrative going on, a man met me the other day and was asking me, is it only northerners that are thieves?
“Are there no thieves in Lagos, are there no thieves in the South West? I mean, that is the impression people are getting. That their stars in the North are being attacked. That it is a strategy for political castration of the North. You can’t afford that narrative.
“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. This 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 a witch-hunt. Some people are even boasting that they want to give Yahaya the Emefiele treatment. What an insult to us, your supporters. Yahaya took this man (Emefiele) to court on your behalf, for your own good, for our collective good, Yahaya took Emefiele to court, took the CBN to court. He, alongside El-Rufai and Bello Matawalle.
“Then we will turn around like a bull of vipers, stab him in the back and give the impression that we are the kind of people who use and dump people? Who stabbed our comrades in the back? Who threw our brothers under the bus?
“People are already regrouping Asiwaju. If nobody is telling you that, I am telling you this. They are regrouping, they openly threaten us these days. They say you guys, wait for us, you will hear from us in 2027. Please, there is no need for all this.
“One person was telling me the other day that my appointment is being delayed because I support Yahaya Bello. I should turn my back on him because of appointment? Take the appointment. Don’t blackmail me. Nonsense! Please, my President, I plead with you, tell these crazy people to leave our brothers alone. Call them off, tell them to behave themselves. I don’t want appointment, if that is the one you will do for me, I will be satisfied. Let them stop harassing them.”
“Pound for pound, nobody contributed to this presidency more than Nasir el-Rufai. He mobilised all the northern governors, that power must shift to the South. We can’t be giving the impression that we are not to be trusted, then there is no political capital anymore because trust is everything,” the lawyer further told President Tinubu.
Also Read:
- Flood disaster: Marwa in Maiduguri, facilitates donation of N120m worth fertilizer to Borno
- Troops neutralise four bandits, rescue 20 kidnap victims in Kaduna
- Ooni’s wife, Yabatech set to promote African culture globally
- Lagdo Dam water will be released gradually to prevent flooding — NIHSA
- New Medical Doctors to Yahaya Bello: You made this possible
“I urge you to forgive your sons, Yahaya Bello and Nasir el-Rufai. Whatever they might have done, since nobody is ready to give any reasonable information pertaining thereto. But, whatever, to err is human, to forgive is divine. Many of those who are with you now, including the ones you made ministers, were the ones insulting us before and during the campaign.
“Suddenly now, it is Yahaya and El-Rufai, some of the brightest stars in the North, that we are supposed to take as public enemies number one. I am not buying it. I am not turning my back on former Governor Yahaya Bello, I am not at all. I am very proud of him and I will stand with him regardless of the consequences. If anybody wants to take appointment from me, go and dash my appointment to the Obidients.”
