The candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in 2015 presidential election, Otunba Owolabi Odebudo has urged southerners to stop attacking President Muhammadu Buhari over his recent appointments, which tended to favour the northern part of the country.

Otunba Odebudo said the South should rather blame Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, according to him, sold lies about the candidate of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the South West.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday, Otunba Odebudo, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), South West, explained that for the fact that the APC and the President have openly denied their campaign promises to Nigerians is proof that Tinubu and APC told lies to Nigerians, and the South West people in particular.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should be blamed for what is now known as
‘northernisation’ of Nigeria by the President Buhari administration.

“For the fact that APC and President Buhari have openly disagreed and eventually disowned their campaign promises to Nigerians proves that Tinubu and his party told us lies, particularly the South West people, in a deceptive bid to get our votes”, Otunba Odebudo said.

Speaking on the formation of the APC and Tinubu’s alliance with the North ahead of the 2015 general elections, the two time governorship candidate in Ogun State maintained that events in the party has exposed Tinubu as only a leader of South West APC.

“What Tinubu did was a good thing but he failed to learn from history that a particular section of Nigeria usually use the South West to achieve their political aims.

“It happened when NPN was formed in Chief MKO Abiola’s house but when he wanted to contest the presidency during Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s second term bid, the North told him clearly that the Presidency was not for sale.

“But as God will have it, Buhari/Idiagbon military regime aborted Shagari’s second term. And here came June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Chief MKO Abiola of blessed memory but the same people refused to hand over to him.

“Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the father of Yoruba politics never traded South West and parts of Mid Western region in any alliance. He was mindful of political alliances he went into.

“There is a Yoruba adage that says: there is no way a farmland that belongs to both father and son will not have boundaries.

“So, in APC, the boundaries are emerging and we can see that one a self acclaimed leader of APC and the other is the President and national leader of the party.

“What is now glaring is that Tinubu is a leader of APC in South West and not the national leader of the party as he had claimed.

“His camp lost their bid to produce the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was a shocker, but another bombshell is coming when ministerial nominees will be announced.

“No matter how you look at it, the PDP camp in the APC produced the Senate President and the House of Reps Speaker. Now, where is Asiwaju’s ACN in the arrangement?”, he asked.

Speaking further, he advised Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to retire from politics when the ovation is loudest, rather than wait to be disgraced the more, since he failed to learn from history by entering into the APC alliance.

“The appointments by President Buhari may be seen that the ACN leader in APC deceived the South West, but he deceived himself.

“And it is advisable for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to quit politics now that the ovation is loudest, rather than wait for further disgrace, because he who holds the knife and the cake decides who he cuts a piece for.

“President Buhari has been cutting the cake and giving same to whosoever he wishes. But Mr. President should be advised to run an all inclusive government, particularly seeking collaboration with the opposition parties to ensure he makes a better impact and achieve more for the country”, he said.

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