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Publisher, former presidential aspirant and a Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has said he would give President Bola Tinubu his full support if the administration remains committed to the democratic principles they fought for during the military era.
Momodu, who spoke during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, said his major concern was the possibility of Nigeria replacing military dictatorship with what he described as civilian dictatorship.
He stressed that his criticism of Tinubu was based on principles rather than personal hostility.
“I will ordinarily swim to the depth of the Atlantic Ocean for Tinubu if he was practising what we fought against when we were fighting the military,” Momodu said.
“There is no earthly reason why I would not, but I would be a bloody hypocrite if after we claimed to have changed the way of military dictatorship, we now replace it with civilian dictatorship. That’s my only problem with him.”
Momodu said he continued to hold Tinubu in high regard, noting that the President was among those who influenced his political development and taught him to challenge established authority.
“Everything else, you see, when they are abusing him, you won’t see me abusing him.
“I have tremendous regards for him, and he was one of those who trained me and instilled this kind of discipline that, look, you can take on the establishment and win. And he did win,” he said.
He also credited Tinubu’s political record in Lagos with helping to establish his reputation before his emergence on the national political stage.
“And that is why that was the record he carried from Lagos as a local champion to a national champion,” Momodu said.
The relationship between the two men dates back more than three decades to the pro-democracy struggle of the 1990s.
Tinubu, then a senator, was involved in the National Democratic Coalition, which campaigned for the actualisation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election mandate, while Momodu worked for the campaign of the late Chief MKO Abiola and was later detained over his pro-democracy activities.
Both men subsequently spent periods in exile following the military crackdown under the late General Sani Abacha.
Although their political paths have since diverged, with Momodu becoming a vocal critic of Tinubu’s administration and aligning with opposition politics ahead of the 2027 elections, he has maintained that his criticisms should not erase the role the President played in his political formation.
