A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant and publisher, Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, on Friday, recounted his experience with Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of the presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, during the funeral of chieftain of the APC, Kemi Nelson, in Lagos, stating that he chose to place Nigeria above friendship.
Momodu, in a terse statement posted on his verified Instagram page via @delemomoduovation, said, โOnly two people, apart from the photographers, witnessed what happened between me and Senator Oluremi Tinubu yesterday, at the funeral service of Chief Kemi Nelson, at (the) Archbishop Vining Memorial Church in Ikeja, Lagos.
โBefore some people add salt and pepper to it, I need to state precisely what happenedโฆ
โSenator Tokunbo Abiru and Dr Tunji Olowolafe and I had walked in about the same time and we went to greet my very dear sister, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. Immediately she saw me, we exchanged our usual pleasantries and then she asked me, โSo Bob Dee, youโre not going to campaign for my husbandโฆ?โ I smiled and remained very calm before replying: โYour Excellency, Iโm in PDPโฆโ She apparently didnโt find it funny and regaled us with the past I shared with her husband and I tried to calm her down.
โAnyway, I went back to my seat and pondered on what just happened and I soliloquised: โBefore the PDP Primary, I had been asked repeatedly by journalists if Iโll dump (the) PDP if I donโt get the ticket, my answer was NO. So if I had gotten the PDP ticket, would I step down for Tinubu of (the) APC, the answer is No.โ
โI joined (the) PDP because the APC was leading Nigeria to Golgotha. The APC candidates are promising to continue Buhariโs โgood works!โ I joined the PDP in order to sack APC from power and to do this I needed a strong opposition party. I had preached to my younger friends that only a mainstream party like the PDP can achieve this in 2023.
โThis remains my conviction. I practise what I preach. Those who disagree are in other parties and I respect their opinions and wish them well. Iโm in PDP.
โI love Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Weโve truly come way back. I love Professor Yemi Osinbajo. I love Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechiโฆ And all my APC friendsโฆ But the APC has done too much damage to Nigeria.
โI choose to place Nigeria above friendshipโฆ I will try my best to support and encourage our PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to do the right things in our party and to rescue our dear beloved country from the vestiges of oppression, religious intolerance, poverty, terrorism, infrastructure decay, economic wows, unemployment.
โGod bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.โ (Punch)