By Yusuf Boluwatife
A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dele Momodu has responded to speculations that he endorsed the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for the 2023 presidency.
The veteran journalist and Ovation Magazine publisher was reacting to the use of a 2019 article he wrote in favour of the former Lagos State governor as an endorsement of the latter’s presidential ambition.
In the said article, Momodu had tipped Tinubu as emininently qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“For me, what gives Tibubu pre-eminence over most of the others who are contending for the crown but presently hiding behind one finger is his glittering records and achievements in both the private and public sectors,” he had written.
Condemning the recent circulation of the article by supposed supporters of the APC National Leader, Momodu, in an Instagram post on Saturday, accused Tinubu’s media handlers of fumbling through cheap campaigns.
His statement read in part, “An article I wrote two years ago about Tinubu has suddenly become a fresh endorsement in 2022. What chicanery is this? While I have tremendous respect for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his handlers have no right to engage in pure mischief by abusing our relationship. They have even made pamphlets of my article.
“But unknown to them, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since I wrote the article and I have my cogent reasons for not joining the APC-President Muhammadu Buhari’s divisiveness and the culpable silence of Tinubu and the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo in condoning his excesses and keeping mute in the face of barefaced tyranny. Southern leaders who crave to be President have failed to protect their own people from blistering attack they have endured under the Buhari government, most especially people of the South-East.”
Prior to this, the now-disturbed Momodu, while speaking with Channels TV on Thursday, claimed that he would be a candidate similar to late Chief MKO Abiola who enjoyed a massive level of support across political parties.
Recall that barely two months after his return to partisan politics, the journalist-cum-businessman declared his intention to run for president in 2023 under the PDP.
