Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment on Monday slammed the Director of Strategic Communications of Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Momodu, after the latter accused the All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, of plagiarism.
Recall that the Ovation Magazine publisher had on Sunday labeled Tinubu’s 80-page policy document as a plagiarised version of late MKO Abiola’s ‘Hope ‘93’ manifesto, which was rehashed with Buhari’s 2015 Action Plan.
In his article titled ‘APC: Renewed hope or forlorn hope?’ Momodu disclosed that it was unfortunate Tinubu couldn’t come up with original ideas and resorted to copying the memory of a man whose hope for Nigeria was noble.
But a livid Keyamo chided Momodu in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, saying the PDP’s strategy director is running a ‘cheap’ hatchet job to impress his ‘new paymasters.’
The spokesperson of Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council further stated that it appeared the opposition party was unaware that Nigerians have rejected them.
The statement read, “The PDP’s attempt to pooh-pooh our Action Plan only ended up as nothing but a joke. Even more pathetic and disastrous is the situation Chief Momodu has found himself today. That is, having to stage a complete somersault in a cheap hatchet job against our highly revered candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, simply because he needed to impress his new paymasters.
“Let us remind the turncoat, Dele Momodu of what he said about the same Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu only on October 26, 2019 in a column published in Thisday newspaper entitled, “Bola Tinubu And His Date With Destiny In 2023.”
“The quality of his recent write-up is a testament that his team is not made up of experts in governance and policy formulation. He must have gathered his team of photographers and video editors to read through a document that is far beyond their tabloid-centered minds.
“One would have expected Dele Momodu to make clear comparative analyses between Hope ‘93 campaign document of MKO Abiola and the Renewed Hope document of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He goofed miserably. He was just huffing and puffing without substance. A write-up that was intended to be a critique of a document on its supposed lack of details ended up itself as an empty shell.”
The minister recalled that Momodu has lived in Lagos for over three decades and knows the state it was before and after 1999 when Tinubu was a governor.
According to him, Tinubu was known for “his glittering records and achievements in both private and public sectors”.
“We are surprised that Dele Momodu could ask what our candidate is known for. Since he has asked either out of self-denial or selective amnesia, we will answer him with his exact words in the past.
“What is obvious is that even the hirelings of the PDP like Momodu are clear believers in Asiwaju’s ability and capacity to deliver on his promises but have decided to play politics this time around.
“Can Dele Momodu also say this about his principal, Atiku Abubakar, whose time as Vice President has no other legacy to be remembered for other than the failed privatisation exercise he was assigned to supervise where he sold national assets to his friends and cronies for peanuts? Should we remind you, Dele Momodu, of the distasteful remarks made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on your party’s flag-bearer as Vice President?” he quipped.