The National Publicity Secretary of pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin has announced that he is no longer the spokesperson to former Head of State and the 2011 presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari.
This was in response to a disclaimer by the CPC to his views on governors of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which were published on the internet.
Odumakin said he resigned as Buhari’s spokesperson after the Supreme Court ruled on CPC’s election petition; and as such, CPC’s disclaimer was unnecessary.
He said this in a statement which went thus:
“My attention has been drawn to a statement in the media by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) on my views published on a chat forum which was lifted by PILOT Newspaper and published in its edition of July 17, 2013.
“In the said view written under my name as I have done several years now,i stated that the corruption going on in the South West States under ACN is far greater than what we witnessed under PDP.
“I buttressed my point with the fact that where I dragged Mr. Alao Akala to EFCC in 2010 for asking each Local Government in Oyo state to award 5 kms of road at N250m to a particular contractor , a company linked to the ACN National Leader is collecting a kilometer of road at N1b each in the same region.
“The newspaper quoted me correctly but mistakenly referred to me as “Buhari Spokesman” but never said I spoke for General Buhari.
“Perhaps the paper did not know that I ceased being Buhari’s media adviser shortly after the Supreme Court ruled on the 2011 elections which brought us together for a period of about 8 months.
“I had expected those who want to provide leadership for the country to read the publication they are reacting to before rushing to the media to “disown” who they don’t own. I guess the desire to appease allies overrides this simple process.
“If they had done this due diligence they would have known that there was nowhere General Buhari was linked to my views.
What is newsworthy here? Odumakin is no longer spokesperson for Buhari. The blunder was from the publisher of the story in the first place. Making a mountain out of a molehill.