The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has declared that the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu is neither a member of the APC nor does he have the right to speak for the party.
As reactions continued to trail the recent remarks of the Oba of Lagos regarding his support for the APC gubernatorial candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, the former governor of Lagos State, addressed the issue at the APC rally in Iganmu, Lagos saying that Oba Akiolu does not speak for the APC.
Tinubu noted that he was the first Yoruba governor to appoint an igbo commissioner. The former governor alleged that the Peoples democratic Party were only trying to pull APC into the recent controversy surrounding Oba Akiolu’s remarks. He accused the coordinator of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, Ifeanyi Ubah, and Bode Goerge, PDP leader, of making vain accusations against the APC.
“The Oba is not a politician. His job is to accommodate all political parties, whether PDP, APC or SDP. So, what did he (Ubah) go and do at the palace? To you Igbos, don’t we pay your children’s school fees like others? Or is it the palace that pays for it? When we conducted an exam and a spelling competition, an Igbo boy, Ebuka, from Anambra, came first and he became the governor for one day.
“Those that won the competition three times in a row were Igbo. Ebuka was sent to Switzerland computer school and then Obafemi Awolowo University. We did not say he was an Igbo boy and he would not enjoy. He became an executive in Oando and he is now in Canada. Another boy, Felix, won and went to Switzerland and OAU. We paid his scholarship; we did not deny him because he is Igbo.”
Joe Igbokwe, the Lagos State APC Publicity Secretary, also released a statement stating the Oba only spoke in anger. Igbokwe then urged his kinsmen to keep faith in the APC and the candidacy of Ambode.
“Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos is not a card-carrying member of APC. He is not a leader in the APC. He does not speak for the APC. He did not speak for Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State. He did not speak for our national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He did not speak for the incoming governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. His Royal Highness is at liberty to speak for himself and he spoke for himself only.
“Lagos APC appeals to Ndigbo not to take the statement as the position of the party in Lagos. We passionately appeal to Ndigbo not to carry the statement credited to Oba Akiolu too far so as not to put a knife on things that have held us together for more than 50 years now. If out of annoyance, you throw your cap away, a mad man will take it and use it forever,” Igbokwe said.
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