By Louis Achi
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Monday, swiftly countered the scathing remark by the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, reported by several news outlets including TheNewDiplomat, as accusing him of lack of empathy by failing to commiserate with the people and government of Oyo State on the tragic explosion that rocked the Bodija area of the capital recently.
In a statement from his media office, Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Atiku, debunked such insinuation, stating categorically that his Principal was among the first set of leaders to commiserate with the Governor and the good people of Oyo State over the tragedy that consumed five people, critically injuring many others.
Below is the full text of the rebuttal by the Atiku media office:
Ibadan Explosion: Atiku Commiserated with Victims, People and Government of Oyo State
With due respect to Governor Seyi Makinde, we wish to correct his expression about the response of His Excellency 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 of 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, which reads as follows:
“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.”
