Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Senator Abdulaziz Nyako, son of former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, has opened up on the role All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, played after the impeachment of his father.
Nyako was impeached on July 15, 2014, following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
Nyako had led five governors to form a faction of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) known as nPDP, to challenge alleged plot to destabilise the northern region.
The faction eventually teamed up with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to oust President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
A memo which Nyako wrote to northern governors, alleging that the federal government was prosecuting a genocide against northerners had widened the crisis he had with Jonathan.
After his impeachment, incumbent governor lf thw state, Ahmadu Fintiri, who was Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly at the time, became acting governor of the state.
Fielding questions from a panel of journalists at a town hall meeting in Yola on Saturday, Abdulaziz, the APC senatorial candidate for Adamawa Central, said Tinubu and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, came to his father’s aid.
He said he owed the duo respect for standing with his father when northern governors, including members of his G5 group that fought Jonathan, refused to give him temporary shelter him in their respective states.
According to him, it was Tinubu and Saraki that staked their necks to facilitate Nyako’s escape to London where he lived in exile until President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in in 2015.
“Asiwaju and Saraki helped Admiral (Nyako) to leave the country. In fact, it was Asiwaju’s son that paid for his (Admiral Nyako’s) accommodation in London,” Abdulaziz said.
The senatorial candidate said he had tremendous respect for Tinubu and Saraki for their support to his father at the most critical time when the state security apparatus were deployed to hunt him down.
He added that at a time Tinubu’s camp canvassed his vote for Ahmad Lawan to emerge as Senate President against Saraki, but he told them he could not trade Saraki for anybody except Tinubu himself.
Abdulaziz restated his unalloyed support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition, saying the Muslim-Muslim ticket is necessary to woo Muslim votes in the North and does not in any way represent a scheme to exclude the Christian population.
Abdulaziz represented Adamawa Central at the Senate between 2015 and 2019, before contesting for governor on the platform of African Democratic Party (ADC) in 2019, after falling out with the APC governor then, Jibrilla Bindow, whom his father supported to become governor.
