Makinde said: “The president has reached out to me. You (Peter Obi) have reached out to me. But my own party candidate (Atiku Abubakar), not even a call or a text message.”
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, has lashed at Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election over failure to commiserate with him on the explosion that rocked Ibadan.
But Atiku issued a statement the next day after the explosion expressing his condolences to the people and government of Oyo State over the blast which killed five people.
Atiku had posted a statement on his X account on January 17, saying: “I wish to express my condolences to the people and government of Oyo State over the explosion that rocked the capital city of Ibadan late yesterday night.
“While the government continues to provide humanitarian support to victims of the explosion, I commiserate with the families of those who might have lost their lives and property to the explosion.”
But Makinde, while playing host to Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State who paid him a visit in Ibadan over the deadly explosion on Monday, January 29 said his fellow party man Atiku was yet to do same.
Obi, who flew the flag of the Labour Party in the 2023 election was appreciated by Makinde for coming to Ibadan to commiserate with him.
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Makinde said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress in that election called him via phone to extend his heartfelt sympathy over the deadly blast. He, however expressed disappointment that the PDP presidential candidate in the election, Atiku Abubakar neither called nor send him a text message over the blast.
He said: “I thank his excellency Peter Gregory Obi, former Governor of Anambra State who also was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last presidential election. I thank you because politics didn’t sip into this. You came here to commiserate with us over the explosion. Though investigations are still going on, it was simply illegal miners storing explosives in an environment where they shouldn’t be….
“I’m particularly grateful because there are three musketeers that went for that election. The president has reached out to me. You (Peter Obi) have reached out to me. But my own party candidate (Atiku Abubakar), not even a call or a text message. I’m saying this thing openly so that our leaders will know that you have time for politics, you have time for governance and you have time for humanity.”