You may have been too busy to see my condolence message — Atiku replies Makinde

The state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde claimed that Atiku neither called nor sent a condolence message to him after the incident.

Makinde said this when Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party and members of the party paid him a condolence visit on Monday, January 29, 2024, over the explosion incident.

“I am particularly grateful because you are three musketeers that went into that election. The president has reached out to me, and you have reached out to me but my party candidate, not even a call or a text message,” the governor was quoted as saying.

Reacting to the claim, Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement faulted Makinde’s claim, indicating that the impression the governor created about his principal was wrong.

Ibe said Atiku made a condolence message less than 24 hours after the explosion, adding that the governor may have been too busy to take note of the message.

“With due respect to Governor Seyi Makinde, we wish to correct his expression about the response of Atiku Abubakar to the recent explosion in the city of Ibadan.

“Atiku Abubakar made a condolence message about the Ibadan explosion, less than 24 hours after its occurrence, where he shared his commiseration and empathy with the good people and government of Oyo State over the incident.

“Perhaps the Governor has been too busy to take track of media reports on the incident. But we wish to put on record that on the 17th of January, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar did make a widely available message on the Ibadan incident,” the statement reads.

To prove that his principal indeed expressed condolence over the incident, Ibe quoted parts of Atiku’s message as saying, “I wish to express my condolences to the good people and government of Oyo State over the explosion that rocked the capital city of Ibadan late yesterday night.

“While the government continues to provide humanitarian support to victims of the explosion, I commiserate with the families of those who might have lost their lives and property to the explosion.”

Makinde was one of the five PDP governors who opposed Atiku’s candidacy in the 2023 election and worked against him.

The five governors dubbed the G5 ensured the former Vice President lost in all their states.