Senator Dino Melaye has slammed Festus Keyamo over his comment that Atiku Abubakar is no match for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.
Keyamo, the Labour and Employment minister and spokesperson of the Tinubu campaign organisation had recently claimed Atiku does not have the experience to lead Nigeria and that the Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi is even way ahead of him in the race for the country’s number one seat.
But speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Senator Melaye, who is the spokesperson of the Atiku campaign council, berated the APC, saying the party will find it hard selling its presidential candidate Tinubu.
“This government marketed Atiku by their colossal failure. Today, the most difficult candidate to sell is an APC candidate whether, at the House of Representatives, Senate, or governorship level,” the lawmaker said during the show.
“That is why you cannot defend, promote or campaign for Bola Ahmed Tinubu without looking stupid. This is what happened to my brother and friend, Festus Keyamo, he started talking off point. He started saying things that do not make sense.”
Senator Melaye believes his principal is the best for the presidential seat next year, dismissing what he called the “social media euphoria” of Peter Obi.
According to him, social media is quite different from reality, arguing that the Labour Party did poorly in the Osun State governorship election.
“What you have is euphoria; a created euphoria,” he said during the show. “Let me even tell you, Peter Obi is a fantastic Nigerian. I have tremendous respect for him and I have said it before but this is not his time. He does not have what it takes now to unify the country.”
“Today, among all presidential candidates, Atiku is the only one that can be trusted; nobody will see him as a religious bigot, tribalist; or ethnic jingoist,” Melaye added.
