The crisis in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has taken another dimension with the Director of Strategic Communications of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Momodu warning Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his allies not to cross the line by maligning the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
This was even as Governor Wike responded immediately by describing Dele Momodu as a mere errand boy who hadmoved from being a presidential aspirant to a being spokes person, adding that he would not allow anybody to use him to gain “relevance.”
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard today, October 31, Dele Momodu said that it was wrong for Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state to label Atiku as an agent of Miyetti Allah, adding that the former Vice President is a Pan-African leader and not an ethnic bigot.
“Calling him an agent of Meyitti Allah is to the extreme. Anybody who has followed the trajectory of Atiku will know that he is detribalized, and has friends in every part of Nigeria. I currently work in his office, where a lot of young men and women from every part of Nigeria are doing their work. Atiku Abubakar cannot be an agent of Miyetti Allah, I think that is carrying it too far.
“Wike is carrying it too far. He is a man I like so much. Of course, it is wrong to label him (Atiku) an agent of Miyetti Allah. You can say anything about Atiku Abubakar but calling him an agent of Miyetti Allah, I disagree vehemently with that. It is wrong.
“If you don’t want to support a man, it is very easy to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, but it is wrong to disparage a man who has served his country meritoriously; who has done everything he could for every part of this country; but because you are playing politics, disagree with him, you will use such weighty words against him? Well, there is always another time.”
Momodu commended Governor Wike for not attacking Atiku and asked him not to turn the fight for justice and equity into a personal vendetta.
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“That is what I am telling you, even Governor Wike, who is supposed to be the angriest of them all because he participated in our primary, has not used such words against Atiku.
“I give him credit. In getting angry, in trying not to work for him, if that is their decision, let us conduct ourselves well. People get angry, there is nothing wrong with that, they have every reason to be angry, but they should not cross certain lines.
“I have written in the last couple of months to Governor Wike, the closest to me among them, because I call him the ‘poster boy in PDP’, great guy, doing very well, advising him not to cross certain lines.
“That night, he called, we spoke briefly and we continued to respect his opinion but I will continue to appeal, don’t destroy the bridge you crossed because you don’t know whether you will need that bridge again. If you don’t need it, a member of your family might need it.“
Responding, Governor Wike said: “I have also read where some people say we should not cross the lines. Ordinarily, I should not have responded to this. I read they said it is one Dele Momodu. These are the things I’m talking about. Ask him. When did he join the party?
“He came into PDP two weeks before the presidential primary. He is from Edo state. He did not even get one vote, not even from his own state.
“When you just want them to recognize you, from presidential aspirant to becoming spokesperson; somebody who wants to rule Nigeria has become a spokesperson of a presidential aspirant.
“All of you know how many times Dele Momodu had been in Port Harcourt, from one project commissioning to another.
“I’m not going to be a party to anybody using me to be relevant. If you don’t have a job, say you don’t have any job, I have a job and I will continue to do my job.”
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