A former Presidential Spokesman, Mr Reno Omokri, yesterday attacked an ex-Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, over his criticism of the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2023 presidential poll.
In a statement, he characterised Fani-Kayode as having multiple personalities and holding consistently contradictory opinions, stressing that it was strange that after praising Atiku’s emergence on May 29, 2022, he turned 180 degrees 24 hours later.
“The congratulations was so effusive. Chief Fani Kayode described the Waziri Adamawa as a formidable candidate, and called his emergence an act of justice,” said Omokri.
The author and public speaker was reacting to a piece by the former minister, titled: “PDP’s Great Betrayal and the Choice Before the APC”, in which Fani-Kayode described the PDP presidential primaries as a “show of shame”.
“How could a process that he called ‘just’ only 24 hours before, now suddenly become shameful. Is justice shameful?,” Omokri queried.
He added that Fani-Kayode called on the electoral umpire to annul a convention and its winner that he had just praised profoundly, stressing that it could be another case of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Omokri pointed out that Fani-Kayode who months ago was traversing Nigeria, telling everyone that his preferred candidate for the office of the president was Yahaya Bello, the incumbent Governor of Kogi state, could attack the PDP for giving its ticket to a northerner.
“So, how do you even begin to situate these multiple contradictions coming from only one man? It reminds me of the response Christ got when he asked the demoniac from the Gerasenes what his name was. The man responded “my name is Legion, for we are many”-Mark 5:9.
“It is hard to take the criticism of a man serious when you do not know which personality within him you would be dealing with on any given day.
“And here he is accusing Atiku Abubakar and some phantom northerners of having a hidden agenda of cheating the Rivers state Governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike.
“But how can that be when Wike got much of his 237 votes from Northern delegates? Even more telling is the fact that Governor Wike himself blamed Southerners for his inability to emerge victorious.
“Can Femi Fani-Kayode know where the shoe pinches on the legs of Governor Wike more than Governor Wike himself? ,” he asked.
Omokri stated that the 2023 elections should be about issues and not sentiments, adding that the the main issue is that Nigeria needs a man who has demonstrated in his own personal life that he can bring about prosperity for himself and others.
He said that he was supporting Atiku because he (Atiku) led the economic management team that paid off Nigeria’s debt, privatised the telecom and cement industries that exploded Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and created jobs.
In addition, he noted that Atiku brought in technocrats into government, chaired the National Economic Council that brought telephony into Nigeria and which stabilised the naira.
“He pushed for the creation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and gave that corruption fighting body their first grant, from his budget, because they were created in between budgets.
“He led the Obasanjo administration’s efforts to restore peace, law and order during the Sharia crisis of 2000. In his private life, Atiku co-founded one of the largest oil and gas, and ports services firms in Africa in the 80s,” Omokri claimed.
He stated that Fani-Kayode’s pontifications were understandable because it was easy for the government, through the EFCC to yank his chains and get him to say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow.
“I sympathise with him, and I urge the public to also be compassionate with him, considering his ordeal. It cannot be easy being Yahaya Bello’s lackey, especially as Governor Bello is not known to be a lenient task master,” Omokri said.