Politics
A former presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe, says he has never criticised President Bola Tinubu in his political career.
Okupe made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He was reacting to a recent report which placed him among list of politicians who fiercely criticised President Tinubu in the past and have now suddenly become his staunch supporters.
The report ,seen by NAN, also placed Presidential Spokesman,Daniel Bwalla; former Presidential Spokesman ,Reno Okri and a former minister,Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, in the list of critics-turned-supporters of Tinubu.
According to Okupe, there is no record anywhere in his political career where he ever criticised Tinubu.
“Go and check all through my time in Labour Party and in PDP. I have never in my life criticised Bola Tinubu even though we have never been under the same political umbrella before.
“A good man does not spoil another good person. We had a very serious, not-so-visible bond during the NADECO (National Democratic Coalition).
“He was abroad. We were here in Nigeria coordinating.
“When we were in the trenches together under severe pressure from government, running from here to here, it gives a bond that even political partisanship cannot give.
“So, you can go and check all publications. I have never, ever criticised him. There is nowhere you will hear me speak anything ill about Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Okupe said he had always maintained the position that if Tinubu was elected he was going to do well.
Okupe said that as a patriotic politician, he heeded the advice some Yoruba elders to step down his ambition in the race to 2023 general elections and support someone from the South East in the interest of unity.
He said since the candidate he worked for did not win, he had no reason not to support the President and work for him to succeed.
Okupe said that his few encounters with Tinubu revealed a patriotic and visionary politician,passionate about the country’s progress.
“He is a reformer and a deep thinker. So, I have always known that if he has opportunity, he is going to do well. I have always known that.
“That is what is driving my support for him. I saw him about two or three weeks ago. Before then, I had not seen Bola Tinubu in eight years, or spoken to him.
“Just like Peter Obi didn’t ask or pay me to support him before I threw in my all to promote him, so also Tinubu didn’t ask me or lobby me to support him.
“I follow my conscience and my mind, and I am not induced by money. I’m not induced by sentiments.
“So, I have never criticised Tinubu before. You can check all my pronouncements,” he added. (NAN)
22nd December, 2024.
C.E.
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