Bola Badmus – Lagos
Olusegun Edwards, the Special Adviser (SA) on Media to the former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has tackled Segun Sowunmi over his call for the arrest of his principal, describing the outburst as a sign of frustration and disillusionment over a loss in his failed bid to become the governorship candidate of the party in Ogun state.
Sowunmi is also a former spokesman to the former Vice- President and now the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Edward gave this position on Tuesday in his reaction, in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, and further described Sowunmi’s call as an unwarranted attack on Chief George, saying that former spokesperson to Alhaji Atiku “is jaundiced and parochial to have made such a disdainful statement against a revered Chief George, The Atoona Odua of Yorubaland, who is always looked upon for his fatherly advice.”
“He (Sowunmi) is suffering from the disillusionment of his loss of PDP’s governorship ticket in Ogun State through the ballot box and the court process he instituted against the party flag bearer, Chief Ladi Adebutu, who has been recognised as the undisputed candidate of PDP by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Ogun State,” he said.
He advised Sowunmi to direct his frustration to his alleged traducers in Ogun State, rather than look for a ‘Scapegoat’ or try to use George’s revered name as a springboard, to gain the attention of the party’s top echelon.
“Chief Olabode George’s call for justice and fairness in the PDP and Sowunmi travails in Ogun State cannot be equated, to warrant a call for the arrest of the former Deputy National Chairman, accusing him of “playing dangerous politics, What an insult!
“Sowunmi should rather look for other ways to please Atiku, the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, and the Director-General of the PDP, if he nurses the desire to do so.
“It is the height of unpardonable disrespect for Sowunmi to raise his voice against a respectable Yoruba elder statesman in the calibre of Chief Olabode George. It is disdainful for him to be disrespectful to the man old enough to be Sowunmi’s father, a respectable figure, who Sowunmi’s elders won’t dare talk to disrespectfully,” he said.
According to him, Sowunmi carries a moral burden as stated by the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, who condemned his continual action of parading himself as a gubernatorial candidate of the party when he did not take part in the party’s primaries.
“While it’s not totally strange that the political landscape is getting charged with all kinds of raw emotions, jejune sentiments, deliberate vending of falsehood, half-truths, flagellation of toxic propaganda, amplification of misinformation and disinformation and all that is not, all in a bid to cast aspersions on perceived enemies, we view Sowunmi’s ill-tempered disrespect for an elder statesman as a taboo,” he concluded.
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