A former presidential aide, Mr Reno Omokri, has stated that he will continue to be a staunch supporter of President Bola Tinubu, despite the relentless attacks on him from the media team of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He stated that his support for the president was grounded in his courageous presentation of significant economic policies, which the PDP failed to implement whilst in power.
“Yes, I support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, forcefully so, because he is delivering the results we in the Peoples Democratic Party said we would achieve: fuel subsidy removal, Naira flotation, devolution of power, and loans to students,” he stated in a statement yesterday.
Atiku’s media team, in a recent statement, condemned Omokri for his consistent support for Tinubu and his economic policies, declaring he was a turncoat for abandoning their principal for the president.
However, the former media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, stated that there was absolutely no reason for the former presidential candidate’s team to fight him, particularly as he had never spoken unkindly about their principal.
Omokri stated that due to the respect he had for Atiku, he would not respond in kind to the unjust attacks on his character by Atiku’s media team.
“That I will never respond to them in kind is not for want of ability. Media-wise, there is no asset at their disposal that I do not have at mine, at an equal or greater capacity,” he stated.
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Omokri, a former staunch supporter of Atiku, stated that he shifted his loyalty to Tinubu because, in his judgment, the president had the vision and capacity to redirect Nigeria’s economy for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
“It does not matter if the cat is Black or White, as long as it catches mice; and it matters not if the party in power is APC or PDP, as long as it delivers progress for the Nigerian nation,” he explained.
He argued that the APC was not ideologically driven, contending that it was inappropriate for the PDP’s former presidential candidate’s media team to accuse him of jumping ship since their principal had, at different times, been a member of both the Action Congress, formed by the president, and the APC.
He stated, “In case Nigerians have forgotten, the APC is not an ideologically driven party. It is a coalition. The ideologically driven parties were the legacy parties, including the ACN, CPC, ANPP, and nPDP.
To demonstrate the congruence of Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s political and economic ideology with the ACN founded by Asiwaju Tinubu, one need only recall that he was their presidential candidate in 2007, when ACN was known as AC.
“Regarding ideology, President Bola Tinubu and Waziri Atiku are both of the 1989 Social Democratic Party stock, and there is little or no difference between them.”
Omokri explained that there are multiple precedents for moving political support from one bloc to another based on Nigeria’s best interests.
According to him, “In 2014, major political stakeholders, who had previously supported President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, felt that a realignment with General Muhammadu Buhari and the then-burgeoning All Progressives Congress was the best alternative for the country.
“That decision was taken, and neither then-President Jonathan nor his media team excoriated them. To this day, President Jonathan, whom I served and who praised me in his autobiography, My Transition Hours, for unwavering loyalty, has never attacked those who made such decisions.”
Omokri stated that despite switching loyalty, he had never betrayed any confidential information he acquired while working for Atiku. “I do not have any plans for such in the future.”
He stated that he had never attempted to profit, either privately or publicly, from such confidences, whether politically or economically, and would never do so.
Omokri stated, “I have refrained from crossing swords with those around Waziri Atiku Abubakar, some of whom I recruited. Which is why I find it odd that they would do so to me.
“Waziri Atiku Abubakar might want to reconsider the calibre of media personnel he engages if they oppose individuals who do not combat him.
“To therefore attack me, when I have never even as much as said one negative word about Waziri or his immediate coterie, is most unkind. Nevertheless, I will not respond in kind.
“Waziri Atiku Abubakar has been good to me, and I shall remain true to the friendship that has fostered the confidence he has in me.
“I will say to these people who do not understand how to disagree without being disagreeable that nobody profits from a mud fight. And nobody knows what tomorrow holds.
“I thank Waziri Atiku Abubakar for the confidence he has placed in me. I recall our last conversation, during which he spoke glowingly about me; therefore, I choose to endure the insults directed at me without any retaliation.
“I am only exercising restraint out of respect, not out of cowardice.”
However, he stated that he would not reserve such courtesies for Mr Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party. “As long as Obi takes on President Tinubu, I will tackle him.”