The former senator, who represented Kaduna Central at the Eighth Senate, Shehu Sani, has warned Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be careful in his dealings with northerners, especially their elite, saying that most of them are hypocrites that would pull him down in his presidential ambition.
Sani, while shedding light on his recent tweet to Tinubu on his 69th birthday where he advised the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to get someone he trusts to always translate what they said in Hausa whenever he visits the North, said majority of the common people in the North do not support the touted presidential ambition of Tinubu in 2023.
He asked Tinubu to learn from the ordeals of late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola who, despite his support and achievement in the North, ended up being sabotaged by northerners.
Sani, who spoke in Osogbo, yesterday, claimed that what northern elite tell Tinubu in English language is not what they say in Hausa and stressed the need for the former Lagos State governor to get a Hausa language translator whenever he visits the North.
He said that common people in the North were not in support of Tinubu to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari and advised him to go back to the drawing board and see how he could gain support in the North.
He said: “Well, the person of Asiwaju is the one I know in the field of struggle. He was one of those in the struggle for the restoration of democracy and also a leading figure in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) while I was part of the fight for democracy. We worked together for MKO’s project and for the resistance against the annulment.
“I know him personally. But what I tweeted is more of a Biblical/Shakespearian allegory or whatever one can use in sending message to someone and what I am trying to say is that as he is allegedly moving towards contesting for the presidency, he should try to know the actual feeling on ground as far as North is concerned because I know what Abiola went through.
“Abiola served the North more than any other businessman from the western part of Nigeria. He printed the Quran and shared it to many Muslims. He donated houses and empowered people; he supported academics and religious clerics. Abiola was one of those passionate about the unity of Nigeria because of the solidarity between the South-West and the northern part of Nigeria. But how did he end up? They (northerners) conspired against him and sabotaged him and at the end of the day, he had gone.”
When asked whether he would be supporting Tinubu when he finally throws his hat in the ring in contesting the 2023 presidential election, the former lawmaker said: “If my People’s Redemption Party (PRP) adopts him, I will support him.”
