Ayo Fayose says he won’t resort to insulting the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu even though they are in different camps ahead of next year’s election.
Fayose, a chieftain of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the comment on Thursday while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Let me tell you: if people are expecting me to abuse Tinubu to show that I am not supporting him, I would not do that,” he said during the show.
The former Ekiti State governor and an ally of Governor Nyesom Wike claimed that despite the political differences some northern governors or politicians have with President Muhammadu Buhari, they don’t resort to abuses.
He described Tinubu as a Yoruba leader and as such, he won’t descend to insulting the former Lagos State governor even though they are of different camps. Fayose said he respects Atiku Abubakar of the PDP the same way as the APC chieftain.
“If the only way to demonstrate to everybody that I am Bola Tinubu’s enemy is to come out as a Yoruba man and insult Bola Tinubu, I will never do it,” he added.
“Listen to me, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu are over 70 years old leaders, why were they sitting together to rub minds and did not carry cutlasses against it each other? Count me out of that (insulting Tinubu).”
“I am not going to be insulting Atiku,” Fayose insisted. “I am not going to be insulting Tinubu.”
The PDP chieftain also reiterated his stance on power shifting to the southern region of the country. As far as he is concerned, since President Buhari is about to complete his second term and is from the northern region, the southern part of the nation should produce Nigeria’s next president.
While he is an ally of Wike who has been at loggerheads with the PDP following the party’s presidential primary, Fayose said he will still work for the party.