A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Mr Moshood Salvador, on Sunday, described a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, as a gift not only to the South-West, but the entire nation.
Salvador spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the annual Ramadan Lecture he organised at his residence in Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
He said Tinubu had contributed immensely to the development of Lagos State particularly, and the progress of its residents.
Salvador, a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, said there was no way anyone could divorce the exponential growth the state had recorded since 1999 from the vision of Tinubu.
He condemned the recent comment made by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State that godfatherism was a problem in Lagos that residents needed to get rid of, for real progress.
Salvador described the governor’s comment as unnecessary trespass, saying the people of the state never complained of the problem.
He said Tinubu was obviously the target of El-Rufai’s comment as he (Tinubu) was the most influential figure in the state’s political firmament.
The APC chieftain urged all well- meaning residents to condemn the governor’s comment.
Salvador pointed out that there were many issues begging for attention in Kaduna State and urged El-Rufai to address them rather than coming to Lagos to talk about godfatherism.
“It is important to let the governor of Kaduna know that it is wrong for him to come to Lagos and start talking about godfatherism.
“We do not have any problem with leaders in Lagos and El-Rufai should mind his business rather than coming here to tell us what is not.
“We hear of serious issues in Kaduna; the issue of unpaid salaries, the issue of killings and attacks on innocent people. El-Rufai has not addressed all these and he is talking about a state that is working.
“We would not condone unnecessary attacks on our leaders. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has done extremely well for the nation and the state particularly.
“He laid the foundation for the growth of the state’s IGR from N400million in 1999 to the billions that it is today.
“There is no way we can talk about a modern Lagos without mentioning Tinubu. He is a gift to the Yoruba race, second only to Awolowo. We respect him a lot and would not condone attacks on him,” he said. (NAN)
