Dele Momodu and Festus Keyamo
By Our Reporter
The spokesperson of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, has again slammed the Director of Strategic Communications of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Momodu, for criticising the manifesto of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
Momodu and Keyamo have been in a war of wards after the veteran journalist described Tinubu’s manifesto as an appropriation of MKO Abiola’s legacy, noting that it was copied from the late politician’s ‘Hope 93’ manifesto.
Speaking via a statement issued on Wednesday, Keyamo, who is the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said Momodu ended up as “an hyperactive hireling and attack-dog” of the PDP after his failed presidential ambition.
He added: “Funnily enough, the only curriculum vitae he truly possesses to even make an attempt at the presidency is no more than mere photo ops with celebrities and the high-and-mighty in society. This is the sad story of a hopeless clown in his sixties who is desperately looking to pick whatever pieces is left of his life by shamelessly worming his way into the pockets of Atiku Abubabar and making himself available to execute dirty jobs against his long-standing benefactor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Mr. Momodu’s epistle of lamentations is again a re-affirmation of his manifest lack of rigour. In his latest rambling piece, he failed again to redeem himself on the gross theoretical deficiency identified in his earlier writing.
“One would have thought he would seize this ‘second chance’ to copiously point out portions or areas plagiarised by the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council from MKO’s 1993 campaign manifesto named ‘Hope 1993’.
“But instead, Mr. Momodu embarked on a ‘pity party’ by whipping up sentiments like a frustrated man to cover up for his obvious inadequacies,” Keyamo stated.
The minister continued: “ This time around, Mr. Momodu was quick to don the toga of ‘freedom fighter’ on behalf of Akinwunmi Ambode for not getting second term ticket in APC in 2018 ahead of the Lagos governorship polls in March 2019. Well, let us pretend that we do not know the open secret that he was a well-serviced ‘PR consultant’ to the same Ambode. That being the case, how come the same Momodu came out to praise-sing Asiwaju Tinubu on October 26, 2019 in his column entitled ‘Bola Tinubu and his Date with Destiny in 2023’? Was that not a betrayal of Ambode who, by then, had vacated office and left in limbo? To me, even more amusing was Momodu’s recourse to divulging what he himself termed ‘secrets’.
“What he actually tried to do in that column was to again worm his way back to Asiwaju after ‘cleaning out’ Ambode. Such is the character of Mr. Momodu that he actually operates from the lowest rung of moral debauchery; a man who follows who provides his next meal ticket.
“Atiku is the latest victim of this conman. Mark my words: if, by God’s grace, Asiwaju wins the presidency next year, expect Mr. Momodu to do another somersault by shamelessly composing another “Oriki” (Yoruba for praise song) for Asiwaju, crawling his way back on his whole body frame like an Orangutan.
“Well, as a mark of personal honour, I will never succumb to the temptation to divulge what Mr. Momodu himself had told me in confidence in the past as to why he fell out with some key figures in the Buhari administration. Contrary to his usual public posturing, it was never a matter of principle. As Mitchelle Obama once put it: ‘When they go low, we go high’.
“As a very busy man with various portfolios and an eye on my huge private practice still going strong and to which I will return anytime, let me end my response here. There are far more important things to do than be distracted by the tantrums of someone who seems to be getting increasingly frustrated that those who hired him to salvage the publicity aspect of PDP’s presidential campaign are so far unimpressed with his mediocre performance. My last comment on this chapter, please,” Keyamo said.
