Talk Is Cheap, El-Rufai Can Say Whatever He Likes, Tinubu Remains Our Leader

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chapter in Lagos state has fired back at Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State for insisting that political godfathers in Lagos State must be retired, a comment that is widely believed to be targeted at the national leader of APC, Bola Tinubu.

El-Rufai, who had recently said he overcame godfatherism in his state, offered to help Lagosians to replicate same. The comment drew mixed reactions among Nigerians, especially the political class.

Despite the condemnations that greeted his comment, El-Rufai yesterday insisted that he owed nobody an apology for asking people of the state to disregard godfatherism.

In reaction through a statement issued by Joe Igbokwe, the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of APC, the party lambasted the El-Rufai saying talk was cheap, adding Tinubu remained their leader.

“Talk is cheap, anybody can make any statement. They want to be like Asiwaju, they want to command respect, they want the world to accept them the way they have accepted Asiwaju, they want to be admired the way people admire Asiwaju.

“But in actions and deeds, they are not like Asiwaju. In character and in tolerance, they are not like Asiwaju. In commitment and hard work, they are not like BAT. In grace and empathy, they are not like BAT. In temperament and love for humanity, they are not like Asiwaju.

“They cannot surrender their home to the people the way BAT has been doing. They cannot fight for others the way BAT does. They cannot deny themselves freedom for the sake of others the way BAT does. They cannot stand for ordinary people the way Asiwaju does.

“They cannot be trusted the way we trust BAT. They cannot give the way BAT does. They cannot sacrifice what BAT has sacrificed for humanity for close to 40 years. They cannot live for others the way Asiwaju has done for years. I can go on and on but he who must lead others must first lead himself.

“We follow our leader, Asiwaju, because he works for us, even when we are sleeping. We follow and honour our leader because he breaks his back for us. We follow him because he cares for all of us. We follow him because he knows where he is going. We follow BAT because he has earned our trust for decades now.

“We follow him because he has never disappointed us. We follow Asiwaju because he is focused and dynamic. We follow Asiwaju because he has not failed us. We follow him because he is dependable.

“We follow him because he fights for us. We follow him because the man is a deep thinker. We follow Asiwaju because he values us without measure.”