You must apologise for insulting Akwa Ibom governor, PDP tells Tinubu

The Akwa Ibom State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council has demanded an apology from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

During the campaign of the APC at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Tinubu described Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, as a boy.

“That Boy that calls himself Governor, that brought Atiku here, he lives in my backyard in Lagos, you people should tell him enough is enough. If not that we are one, I would have chased him away from Lagos, I will use lizards, pythons and scorpions to chase him away,” Tinubu

The comment had attracted criticisms from different quarters.

In a statement, Assam E. Assam, director general, Akwa Ibom PDP Campaign Organisation, asked Tinubu to apologise.

“We know of the several verbal gaffes, some logically bewildering and calling to question, the mental acuity of the APC Presidential Candidate and his capacity to execute the functions of the office he seeks. He however crossed the line with the statement credited to him,” he said.

“By calling the Political Symbol, source of authority and identity of our people and State a ‘boy”, Tinubu has insulted, denigrated and stereotyped the entire people of Akwa Ibom State, and thus subtly elevated the previous noxious narrative from which our people have since Arisen (dakkada) and repudiated as those who are only good at certain layers of the Nigerian socio-political space.

“That Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, would refer to an elected State Governor, a leader of over 7 million proud people, a State that is today, generally adjudged as Nigeria’s Best Kept secret; the only subnational with a thriving commercial airline, the state with perhaps the best road network and other infrastructure in the nation, a Seven-Star Governor as a ‘boy’ reveals him as the lowest of the gutter-snipes.

“That Tinubu aspiring to become the President of Nigeria, would subliminally threaten the safety of other Nigerians who have found residence in Lagos, as he did, by saying if “we are not one, I would have chased him away from Lagos” clearly exposes his ineptitude and inability to lead. The statement supports the stories of underhanded tactics that are being deployed in Lagos State by agents associated with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to deny other Nigerians the right to exercise their civic and constitutional responsibility of voting.

“We hereby demand an immediate apology by Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the people of Akwa Ibom State for calling our leader a ‘boy’ and also demand an immediate repudiation of the said statement by the Akwa Ibom State APC chieftains, notably Senator Godswill Akpabio who stood there at the podium and cheered as their Presidential Candidate, insulted the collective identity and pride of the Akwa Ibom people.”