APC accuses former minister of blackmailing Tinubu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused a former minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jumoke Akinjide, of carrying out a campaign of calumny against its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

Mrs Akinjide, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, had appeared on a radio programme in Ibadan where she was alleged to have disparaged Mr Tinubu.

The spokesperson of the APC in Oyo State, Olawale Sadare, in a statement on Friday condemned the alleged attacks by Mrs Akinjide on Mr Tinubu.

Mr Sadare said the former minister was sponsored to tell lies against the ruling party’s flag bearer.

“We have been inundated with unpleasant feedback from members of the public who had listened to all the sponsored interviews granted by Akinjide in the last few days,” he said.

“She had allegedly made futile attempts to tell barefaced lies against the person of Tinubu, who is the APC presidential candidate, in the forthcoming general elections,” he added.

“It is a height of insensitivity for somebody who has never won any election now trying to pull down an accomplished personality who has never lost any election anywhere,” Mr Sadare claimed.

The spokesperson urged opposition parties to desist from blackmailing Mr Tinubu.

“We urge her to remember the fate which befell her and others in 2015 when they travelled similar route with former President Goodluck Jonathan and got humiliated at the poll,” he said.

“If what most citizens across the country demonstrate as a show of support and endorsement for Tinubu/Shettima 2023 project on account of competence, track record and promise does not appeal to Akinjide. We would encourage them to thread softly and stop fighting dirty in the political space over a lost cause. Nigerians want Tinubu as their next president.”

Mrs Akinjide, however, on Friday, told PREMIUM TIMES that she has “the right to say whatever she wants to say”.

“I have no reaction , it is a democracy, I can say whatever I want to say and they can do whatever they want to do. I am not engaging with them, I am engaging with the Nigerian people.”