By Akinwale Kasali
A Presidential Aide, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has said he would never support the Presidential aspiration of former Governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Ojudu, a co- founder of the Newsmagazine is a Political Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari in the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The former Senator who was thought to be very close to Tinubu, and alleged to have been made by him, said he will not support Tinubu out of principles. He declared that he would go and work in his farm if Buhari chooses Tinubu as his successor.
In an earlier interview a couple of months back, Ojudu clarified his relationship with Tinubu. He said it is erroneous to say he was made by Tinubu, emphasising that he was already a made-man before he and Tinubu met. He said their relationship has been of mutual benefit to each other.
“I would rather go and farm”, he told Chude Jideonwo, in an interview on Saturday, March 19. 2022.
Ojudu argued that Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo remains a better option than Tinubu, stressing that right from the time he started nursing the idea of throwing his hat in the 2023 Presidential race, he had planned to support Osinbajo ahead of anyone, no matter whose ox is gored.
The anchor of the Programme, Jideonwo probed further if he (Ojudu) would change his position if Buhari throws his weight behind Tinubu. But Ojudu responded: “Never. Take that from me, write it down today, I will go back to the farm. If I don’t believe in you I will not work for/with you.”
However, Ojudu said he’s still waiting for the Vice President to declare his intention to run, adding that he’s supporting him because of his commitment to work, and the Nigerian people.
“We are still waiting for Osinbajo to come and tell us if he is running. I, personally, will want him to do so, but he has not come out, so we will wait, and there is still time.
“If I support Osinbajo, he deserves to be supported. I see the way he works, day and night, committed, not asking for things for himself, committed to the people, committed to Nigeria and, well educated.
“He can stand his own anywhere in the world, comfortable with the young and the old, comfortable with new technology and always coming out with solutions to problems. I mean, it doesn’t cost me anything to align with such a person. What am I looking for in life? I’m looking for a better society, a society where everybody can realise themselves. I’m looking for a society where some people will not pile all of a country’s resources into their accounts.
“So, if I see somebody who has all of those attributes, I have the right to support that kind of person. So, if Osinbajo declares tomorrow that he is running, I will have no apology I will support him, and I will work for him.”
Months back when Ojudu also declared he wouldn’t back Tinubu’s Presidential Ambition, it led to a barrage of criticisms from different quarters, especially from loyalists and supporters of Tinubu who alleged that Ojudu was a betrayer.
Many also said he was against his political benefactor, pointing out that Tinubu was instrumental for his emergence as a Senator in Ekiti State.
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