Says presidential race is between Tinubu and Obi, writes off Atiku
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Kogi West Senator Smart Adeyemi has taken a shot at Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, claiming that the bank’s chaotic roll-out of the new naira is a calculated attempt to ridicule the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He spoke after purchasing his expression of interest and nomination forms for the April 10, 2023 party primary for the Kogi state governorship election.
The former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) also claimed that Emefiele is working for his cousin, Ifeanyi Okowa, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He insisted that this weekend’s presidential race is between the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, stressing that the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is not a force to reckon with.
He argued that Atiku, a northerner, contesting the presidential poll was a violation of the rotation convention in the country, emphasising that he is not and will never be in the race.
“Are you aware that Emefiele did not only aspire for President but also bought campaign vehicles? When he lost out, he said he has put in so much of our money into politics and wanted to cover and he brought his cousin’s brother, Okowa, to come and contest the election and bankrolled him.
“What audacity does somebody who wants to be the President of Nigeria ignore five governors of his party? The audacity was not out of courage. It is because they have the backing of the CBN governor,” he alleged.
Reacting further, Adeyemi claimed that “they brought the redesign policy. It was a calculated attempt to ridicule the APC government and manipulate Nigerians to vote for the PDP.”
“But Nigerians are wiser today and they now know why we are having the problem today. How do think that a ruling party will go against the interest of its people who we will request to vote us back?
“Asiwaju is a man of the great antecedent, who does not know tribe or religion, he is a visionary leader, man of strength, humility, yet with a lot of courage. Shettima is not just a politician but one of the intelligentsia in politics.
“He is a scholar and visionary, a core professional in agro-economics. They are what Nigeria requires today to diversify its economy. How can we have them and anybody tell me to go for Atiku?
“Was he not behind our privatisation, including selling Abeokuta Steel? Atiku is not in contention for this presidential race. History will remember northern governors for supporting power shift to the south to save Nigeria from a crisis,” he noted.
Adeyemi while appraising this weekend’s poll, said that; “this election is between Tinubu-Shettima on one hand and Peter Obi on the other hand. Atiku is not in the race and cannot be in the race because power is supposed to shift to the south.
“We don’t want to go back to the June 12, presidential crisis. They brought the issue of the naira redesign policy to ridicule the APC so that the electorate will hate and reject the party but Nigerians now know. They are not voting for party now but the individuals,” he said.