Atiku says FFK was once 'Nnamdi Kanu’s handbag' after his ‘inciting’ speeches against Igbos

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election has called out spokesmen for Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council – Bayo Onanuga and Femi Fani-Kayode over inciteful comments made about the Igbos.

In a statement via Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, Atiku noted that their statement is a reflection of their principal who has failed to condemn the violence that trailed the elections.

The former vice president stressed that the constitution of Nigeria permits every Nigerian in any part of the country to vote and be voted for irrespective of their religion, gender and tribe.

He said what Tinubu had done was to return and reverse some of the democratic gains that Nigeria had made.

He said: “Bayo Onanuga, a hitherto respected journalist who claimed to have contributed to the fight against dictatorship, is now supporting injustice and attacks on the Igbo for daring to vote in Lagos. This is what happens when you associate yourself with Bola Tinubu. Your mind and soul get corrupted.

“For Fani-Kayode, a man who was Nnamdi Kanu’s handbag, he has suddenly become an ethnic supremacist, encouraging the suppression of the Igbo people in Lagos all in a bid to impress his paymaster We never expected much from this Jekyll and Hyde.

“What the tribal bigots like Bayo Onanuga and Fani-Kayode will not tell you is that Ireti Kingibe, a Yoruba woman, has just been elected into the Senate to represent the FCT.

Atiku also lambasted Tinubu’s campaign for calling on the National Broadcasting Commission to fine TV and radio stations that continue to invite Peter Obi of the Labour Party for interviews challenging Tinubu’s legitimacy.

Atiku commended rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), for asking a Federal High Court to bar the NBC from suspending the licence of broadcast stations

He said: “Tinubu’s campaign team has already given us a glimpse of what his administration will look like. It will be about the suppression of voters’ rights, unimaginable corruption, repression of freedom of speech, and a total compromise of government agencies.

“For a man who rose to power over the claim that he led the struggle for the actualization of the June 12 mandate, this is another Nigerian tragedy.”