A northern Nigeria group, the Northern Youths Movement (NYM), has criticized former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, for his recent remarks regarding the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Lamido had taken a swipe at the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, describing him as a “small boy in PDP history” and questioning his whereabouts during the party’s formation in 1999.
In a statement issued on Sunday, signed by its Chairman, Mallam Ishaya Jato, the NYM responded by reminding Lamido that those he dismissed as “children and small boys” were instrumental in ensuring the PDP’s survival during challenging times, particularly after the 2014 rebellion in which Lamido himself played a significant role before withdrawing.
According to the group, “Little wonder that after being a Minister and Governor for eight years, an elder like Lamido had no other person in Jigawa State to present as PDP governorship candidate other than his own son.
“If in the estimation of Lamido, who became a political elder at 50 years, 57-year-old Wike is still a small boy; we wonder what he (Lamido) has become 36 years after he became an elder? Should he now be seen as an ancestral PDP elder?”
They accused Lamido of disparaging former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in like fashion.
“Two years ago, Lamido publicly said ‘Obasanjo was an unknown prisoner when PDP was formed.’ Ironically, he went on to admonish Obasanjo to stop talking down on people publicly.
“In 2019, it was Atiku that Lamido described as his junior in politics, saying that he was in the House of Representatives in 1979 when Atiku was still an employee of Nigerian Customs Services.
“As a sitting PDP Governor, Lamido was everywhere disparaging President Jonathan, calling his government a failure.
“Even out of office, Lamido has not stopped disparaging President Jonathan.
“Therefore, we are not surprised that since Lamido and others deceived Atiku to lose the 2023 presidential election, by making him to see himself as President-In-Waiting, more than seven months before the election, he has been venting his frustration and anger on Wike, just because he, alongside other governors like Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi refused to be treated like children in a their own party,” the group further claimed.