The Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council on Monday labelled a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and some Christians in the ruling All Progressives Congress impostors.
This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Media and Publicity of Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga.
The development came barely 24 hours after Northern Christian leaders in the APC said voting along religious lines in the 2023 general elections may trigger negative consequences among Nigerians and threaten national development.
The APC Northern Christian leaders, led by Dogara and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, agreed to focus on issues that unite them as a people rather than encourage attacks on sensitive religious issues in the name of politics.
The resolutions were contained in a communiqué jointly signed by Dogara and a former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State and ex-Minister of Water Resources, Mukhari Shagari, after a consultative meeting held in Abuja on Saturday.
However, Onanuga on Monday accused Dogara of losing his mind when he realised his self-imposed ambition to be on the presidential ticket of All Progressives Congress was no longer guaranteed.
According to him, the former speaker had suddenly become a reprobate and demagogue, delivering hate speeches and whipping up emotions, to set our country ablaze.
Onanuga said, “The Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council is therefore not surprised by media reports about a meeting of some so-called Northern Christian leaders, who claimed to be members of our APC that was championed by Dogara and his ilks.
“The claim was fraudulent. Dogara, the politician who organised the meeting, left our party officially and unceremoniously weeks ago. And those who attended the meeting were representing themselves, their selfish agenda, not Northern Christians.
“Before then, the former speaker had spearheaded a campaign of vitriol and hate against our party, using religion as camouflage, after he lost the vice-presidential candidacy to a better qualified Senator Kashim Shettima.
“The APC PCC wondered how the assembly of strange bedfellows hoped to foster unity and cohesion in our country, when their candidate represents the antithesis of the goal, having emerged the greatest divider of our polity, between the North and South.
“We want to assure Dogara and his co-travellers fanning hate campaigns against our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his running mate that they will fail spectacularly at the polls.
Babachir, when contacted, said he was tired of talking to the press on the matter.
“I am tired of talking to you people. Every day, you want me to talk,” he simply said.
Dogara’s Special Assistant (Media and Communication), Turaki Hassan, did not take his calls and he also did not respond to messages sent to him on the matter.
