Former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has put a lie to the accusation of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State that (Atiku) has not commiserated with the people of Oyo State over the January 17, 2024 explosion that killed five persons, injured 77 others and destroyed 58 houses at the Bodija area of Ibadan.
On Monday, Governor Makinde while hosting the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi who was at the Government House Ibadan to condole with the governor over the explosion incident took Atiku to cleaners over the incident.
Makinde said:
“Let me use this opportunity to thank former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, for the visit. I thank him because politics didn’t seep into this. You came here to commiserate with us over the explosion. Actually, the investigation is going on. It was simply illegal miners storing explosives in an environment where they shouldn’t be
“It is a place where meant for people to live in; It’s not a mining site. So, all the lapses that allowed such to happen have been looked into.
“I am particularly grateful because the musketeers that went for the presidential election have reached out to me. The President has called me, and you have reached out to me, but my own party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has not called or even sent a text message.
“And I am saying it openly so that our leaders will know that there is time for politics. You have a time for governance and you have a time for humanity. So, we want to say thank you so much, sir. We appreciate this visit.”
However, a swift reaction, the media aide of Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe in a statement said that indeed the former Vice President was one of the leaders that reacted to the incidence and condoled with the people of Oyo State less than 24hours after the explosion.
He said, “With due respect to Governor Seyi Makinde, we wish to correct his expression about the response of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar to the recent explosion in the city of Ibadan
“Atiku Abubakar made a condolence message about the Ibadan explosion, less than 24 hours of its occurrence, where he shared his commiseration and empathy with the good people and government of Oyo State over the incident.
“Perhaps the Governor has been too busy to take track of media reports on the incident. But we wish to put on record that on the 17th of January, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar did make a widely available message on the Ibadan incident.”
Both Makinde and Atiku are in different camp prior to the 2023 presidential election. While Governor Makinde was a key member of the G5 governors of the PDP that worked against the ambition of Atiku Abubakar, even though he was the flag bearer of their party, the PDP. Atiku on his side largely ignored the G5 governors led by the then governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike who is now serving as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Tinubu.