A group, Concerned Om’Oduwa Progressive Youth Assembly (COPYA), has urged former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, to ceasefire on issues pertaining to President Muhammadu Buhari’s health, even as it decried his recent call on Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to take over government from Buhari.
The group gave this position on Thursday at a press conference addressed by its President-General, Kola Salawu, declaring that Fani-Kayode in making that call had “taken the proverbial sacrifice past the indicated road junction”.
The former minister had made his call in reaction to a letter transmitted by President Buhari to the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives asking that Osinbajo should coordinate the government affairs in his absence as he took permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Salawu, who spoke in company of other members of the group, including Mr Bola Ajayi, Mr Nojeem Kuye, among others, insisted that such call was nothing short of pitching the Yoruba in government, led by Acting President Osinbajo, against other ethnic groups in the country.
“He (Fani-Kayode) is running a campaign of calumny against the President and we think this is in the hope that he can drive a wedge between President Buhari and the Yoruba in his cabinet so that they can be shoved aside.
“This is likely FFK’s own way of ensuring he is regarded as a Yoruba voice after having turned the Federal Government against leaders in the region.
“Femi Fani-Kayode has, however, taken the proverbial sacrifice past the indicated road junction in his recent call on the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to take over government from President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This is not who the Yoruba is. The Yoruba man will never engage in the kind of treachery that FFK and his supporters are contemplating. We count President Buhari fortunate in this regard that he did not populate his cabinet with traitors, which means FFK or anyone with such intention would never find a willing person to do what they have in mind, which is someone to backstab the President. It is not who we are,” he said.
He warned that Fani-Kayode and his ilks were distracting Osinbajo from performing his duties as assigned to him by President Buhari, saying the call was clearly to cast him (Osinbajo) as a desperate person.
“FFK has backup vocalists in this demented call that has no place in the constitution. It is nothing short of a ploy to pitch the Yoruba in government, led by Vice President Osinbajo, against other ethnic groups in the country.
“We are, therefore, warning that FFK and his likes are distracting the Vice President who assiduously goes about his duties as assigned to him by his boss, President Buhari. The recent issues raised by FFK in his incoherent response to a constitutional issue as regards President Buhari’s letter, as transmitted to the National Assembly, is clearly to cast the Vice President, who is now the Acting President, as a desperate person,” Salawu said.
The group leader explained that the essence of sending warning to the former minister was to make peace among Yorubas and not to attack his personality, maintaining that no Yoruba man would engage in the kind of treachery that the former minister and his supporters were contemplating.
“We count President Buhari fortunate in this regard that he did not populate his cabinet with traitors, which means FFK or anyone with such intention would never find a willing person to do what they have in mind, which is someone to backstab the president. It is not who we are. This by no means imply that the poison constituted by FFK
should not be neutralized. It is important that the South-West see him for who he is,” the COPYA leader said.
Salawu, while speaking further, appealed to the Acting President, Prof Osinbajo, not to be carried away by the ethnic drums being beaten by Fani- Kayode and his ilks, saying such characters are alone in their endeavor.
“We, therefore, use this opportunity to appeal to our father, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, not to be carried away by the ethnic drums being beaten by FFK and his likes knowing well that such characters are alone in this endeavor.
“The Acting President must not heed the call for war being chorused by this rubble and must not allow himself to be dragged into dirty politics at the detriment of his spiritual and professional calling as an accomplished Nigerian before venturing into politics,” Salawu said.
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