2023: Tinubu mocks Atiku, another candidate, asks ex-VP to quit race
On Friday, Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for president, made fun of the other two candidates in the 2023 race.
There are 17 other contenders vying for the presidency in addition to Mr. Tinubu.
Speaking after touring the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State, the APC presidential candidate urged Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s candidate, to withdraw from the race, claiming he had always been interested in the post.
There aren’t many of us left running; one of them claims to be Atiku; how many times has he run? He is exhausted and constantly on the go. Requesting that he go sit down. “Enough is enough,” declared Mr. Tinubu.
Atiku has shown interest in the position since 1993.
However, in 2007, he ran for president on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC) to which Mr Tinubu belonged at the time.
Atiku also ran in the primary election of the PDP in 2011 and that of the newly-formed APC in 2014 ahead of the 2015 presidential election but lost.
In 2019, he was the PDP candidate but lost.
Atiku was vice president of the country between 1999 and 2007 under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Disgrace to mention name
Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, also mocked a presidential candidate whom he said bandies statistics.
He said it was a disgrace for him to mention the name of the candidate.
“The other one—he thinks “na statistics we go chop”? He likes arithmetic that can never be solved. No Indian can solve it. To mention his name is a disgrace to me. I won’t mention his name. Wrong statistics, wrong arithmetics— warehouse economy. That is not what Nigeria needs,” he said.
Although, Mr Tinubu did not mention anyone, Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate is known for quoting statistics.
Early this month, Mr Tinubu mocked the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos, Funke Akindele.
During a meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Council, some supporters of the APC sang songs with disparaging lyrics about Ms Akindele.
“It is a big insult, it is an abuse. A fowl wants to enter a house, it is bending down, how tall is it in the first place?”
Tanko Yinusa, one of the Obi/Datti campaign spokespersons, did not respond to requests for comments. He did not pick up calls nor respond to a text message sent to him.
