I never endorsed Buhari/Osinbajo ticket – Awolowo-Dosumu

Awolowo-Dosumu

By OBINNA EZUGWU

Former Nigerian ambassador to Holland and daughter of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. (Mrs.) Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu has denied endorsing the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who are seeking a second term in office under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Awolowo-Dosumu who is an aunt to the Vice President’s wife, Oludolapo, clarified that she does not belong to any political party and although she had a right to endorse a candidate, she hasn’t do so. She accused those printing posters in her name of trying to blackmail her while calling on them to desist from such.

“My attention has been drawn to political campaign posters in circulation and on some online platforms, purportedly printed, courtesy of myself, in endorsement of the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket ahead of the presidential election coming up on Saturday, February 16, 2019,” she said in a statement made available to Businesses Hallmark on Monday.

“Whereas, it is my right to endorse candidates for political offices based on my conviction, this inalienable right is not transferable. I, therefore, consider this attempted blackmail utterly preposterous and I totally reject it.

“I do not belong to any political party. I restate my commitment to the sustenance and promotion of the legacy of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his Jewel, Yeye Oodua H. I. D. Awolowo, in every detail. I note the emerging consensus that Awo’s prescriptions continue to be the unassailable strategies for development in this country.

“I remain convinced that Awo was translated from a partisan politician to a universal ideal on May 9, 1987. It is on the basis of this principle, therefore, that I have piloted the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation for the past 25 years and, lately, the HID Awolowo Foundation as strictly non-partisan institutions, for the incisive interrogation of issues that impact on the Nigerian people and their development.
“Finally, let me state in unequivocal terms that I, Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, never commissioned any person(s) to print posters with my photograph endorsing any candidates for any elections. Any publication to that effect is fraudulent and should be dismissed in its entirety,” she concluded.