Tundun Abiola berates Hafsat for ‘exploiting’ father’s name for Yahaya Bello’s campaign

Tundun, daughter of the late MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 election, has criticised her sister, Hafsat, for using their father’s name to promote the presidential bid of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi.

On Saturday, Bello declared his intention to run for president in 2023 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Kogi governor’s campaign slogan is ‘Hope 2023’, which is similar to the slogan used by Abiola during the 1993 presidential election campaign.

Bello also appointed Hafsat Abiola-Costello, one of Abiola’s daughters, as the director-general of his presidential campaign organisation.

Speaking in an interview on ARISE TV, Hafsat said she accepted the appointment because the Kogi governor shares some qualities with that of her father.

But reacting to the development on Monday while co-anchoring Morning Show, a programme on ARISE TV, Tundun said her sister does not have the right to “exploit” their father’s name for Bello’s benefit.

“I have come to expect certain things even from that individual. Just because it is not surprising doesn’t mean that it is not staggeringly inappropriate,” she said.

“I’m referring to my half-sister, Hafsat, who is the DG of the Yahaya Bello campaign and her making comparisons to my dad. There are a lot of political players in his team; not one of them feels the need to throw their fathers under the bus for the sake of their principal.

“Come out and talk about your principal, his antecedents, his plans for the future of Nigeria and leave daddy out of it.

“It is not her right because it is not her name. It is our name and it is also a name of future generations of Abiola yet unborn who should be proud of a legacy.

“My father was tortured because UN does consider solitary confinement as torture. He was tortured then murdered and has left his legacy — only for it to be abused in this fashion.

“Everybody should just leave his name out of it, especially dishonesty, false equivalence, and cynical exploitation of a genuine struggle. It is nauseating.”