Nyako’s son: How Tinubu helped my father escape to London after Northern govs ditched him

Senator Abdulaziz Nyako, son of former Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, has opened up on the role Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, 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 Snr. had led five governors to form a faction of the then ruling PDP known as new PDP (nPDP) to challenge alleged plot to destabilise the northern region.

The faction eventually teamed up with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to oust 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 rift he had with Jonathan.

After his impeachment, incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who was speaker of the Adamawa assembly, became acting governor of the state.

Answering questions from a panel of journalists at a town hall meeting in Yola, Abdulaziz, the APC senatorial candidate for Adamawa Central constituency, Tinubu and ex-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 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 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”, he stated.

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 for Senate presidency as against Saraki, he told them he could not trade Saraki for anybody except Tinubu himself.

He therefore 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 any way represent a scheme to exclude the Christian population.

Abdulaziz represented his constituency at the Senate between 2015 and 2019, when when he contested for governor under the platform of the African Democratic Party (ADC), having fallen out with the then APC governor, Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, whom his father supported to become governor.