Chris Okeke
The former governor of Jigawa state and one-time minister of foreign affairs Alhaji Sule Lamido, has blamed the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the divisiveness, restiveness and hatred among Nigerians. He also stated that he would support the call for Igbo presidency if that is the wish of his party, the PDP. He stated this, Wednesday, while responding to questions in a popular electronic media.
Lamido stated that the APC, in 2013, embarked on propaganda, lies, and hate speech. They called the former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, and his wife, Patience, all sorts of names, sabotaged government efforts to stem the insecurity in the north and incited brothers against brothers, all in order to win election and assume power.
In his words, “Under the PDP 16 years of ruling this nation, it is evidently clear that Nigeria was in peace. There was no tribe that asked the others to leave their towns, villages and clans. There was relative peace and the country was making steady progress on the economy. Today, what we hear is the South West elders who were responsible for the enthronement of the present regime asking Fulanis to leave their domain, the northern youths asking Igbos to leave and vice versa; and the people who masterminded the merger of three parties that defeated PDP from the South West and some from South South are keeping mute. The Amaechis should talk; the Tinubus should say something; the Ngiges and the rest should stand up and defend the nation and the Fulanis who are being chased away from certain places.”
In his response to the question why some governors visited former President Goodluck Jonathan and asked him to run for election, the former governor stated that it was the APC governors that visited the former president.
“Why would they visit and tell him to run? Are they saying that what they saw and said about him in 2013 is no longer true, just few years down the line? Why are they disturbing the peaceful man? This is what I call hypocrisy. The same man you blamed for his so-called cluelessness, hated him and called him names! And you are now asking him to run! That, for me, is hypocrisy.
On Igbo presidency, the former governor emphasised that he was a party man and would support the position of the party any day. “If the party chooses or goes for rotation of the presidency against quality of leadership, I will support that,” he said.
“But if the party is magnanimous enough to limit its search for candidates to a particular geopolitical zone, I will also support that.”