Tinubu Tears Apart Ikimi; Says He’s A Devious Man With An Awful Past A former Governor of Lagos state and chieftain of the opposition All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has launched a blistering response to allegations made against him by a former Minister of External Affairs, Tom Ikimi. Mr. Ikimi, who last week left the APC and returned to the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], had blamed Mr. Tinubu for his ordeals while in the opposition party. He said the former governor hijacked the party and was now using his vantage position in the fold to frustrate anyone who could stand up to him. The former minister particularly blamed Mr. Tinubu for frustrating his ambition to become the party’s national chairman. Read Mr. Ikimi’s allegations here. Mr. Tinubu has now responded, describing Mr. Ikimi as a man with an awful past who could not be trusted with the leadership of the party. Read the former governor’s full response below. Tinubu Media Office Lagos-Nigeria, August 31st, 2014 Reply to Chief Tom Ikimi. I ordinarily would not have responded to Tom Ikimi’s lengthy chronicle of falsehoods, cheap blackmail and abuse. My only reason for this response is that I know Tom Ikimi’s style. He subscribes to the view that no matter how unbelievable a lie may sound if you brazenly assert it and repeat it often enough you may persuade many that it is in fact true. I have seen Ikimi perpetrate this deviousness in his years in public life. 1. Regarding Ikimi’s bid for the Chairmanship of the Party. It was clear to practically everyone who had the interest of the party at heart that we simply could not have a man of Tom Ikimi’s antecedents as Chair of the party. As chairman of the NRC, one of the only two political parties in the country under the military transition programme, Tom Ikimi not only connived with the then military regime to annul the elections, terminate the democratic process and sell off his party. He became Abacha’s foreign minister, convincing the world that heinous state murders like the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa were just acts! If Ikimi were the Chair of APC the party would have to sleep with both eyes open lest its chairman sell off the party before day break .No matter what anyone may say about me it is unlikely that I can be accused of supporting incompetent or morally light-weight individuals for important political positions. My philosophy is to put the best forward, men and women of competence and integrity, who can stand up to us politicians to challenge us and say no when necessary. Such people are not noisy or able to gain attention by being loud, I believe my role is to do all I can to project them. Who in their right mind would compare the highly principled Chief Bisi Akande, or Chief Oyegun with a Tom Ikimi? Either of these two men are known for their no-nonsense styles, not once in their careers would you hear that they betrayed a cause or were anybody’s stooge.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:28:59 +0000
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