Both
Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and his Borno counterpart, Kashim
Shettima, have disowned an allegedly taped phone conversation circulating on
social
media, which was being passed around as a conversation between the two
governors.
In the 20:38
(twenty minutes and thirty-eight seconds) audio, Amosun and Shettima were
allegedly taped discussing Biafran agitation and what Hausa and Yoruba should
do to outwit the Igbo.
Ogun State
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Otunba Dayo Adeneye, said the
conversation never took place and attributed it to the handiwork of mischief
makers and agent provocateurs bent on heating the polity and setting people
against themselves. Isa Gusau, who spoke on behalf of Governor Shettima accused
a yet-to-be identified presidential aspirant from northern Nigerian as being
the mastermind of the phoney tape.
“The voice
in the forgery which they paraded as that of Governor Amosun is not that of His
Excellency and a simple search on the internet for any speech by him would
convince those who are not familiar with his voice that the producers of the
audio recording did a poor and unintelligent imitation”, Adeneye said.
“The
peddlers of such falsehood appear to have a wild scheme which appears to be
part of what may be turning out to be the wider script, by some unpatriotic
elements, aimed at further causing divisions in Nigeria. It is meant to feed
into, as well as further exacerbate the already highly combustible wave of
agitation in the land. This evil plot will not work. Indeed this is not the
first time some unpatriotic and vile individuals would spread falsehood about
the person of Governor Amosun.
“Governor
Amosun is committed to peaceful co-existence of all groups in Nigeria and will
not engage in conversations that would threaten the peace and unity of Nigeria.
He, therefore, counseled politicians and other public office seekers to play
politics without bitterness and dwell more on things that unite us rather than
those that seek to divide us”.
According to sun news Gusau,
Governor Shettima’s spokesman, similarly debunked the audio. He said the voice
purported to be Shettima’s was not his.
Gusau
supplied a video of Governor Shettima’s interview with the Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA) as further proof that the voice in the audio tape was that of
an impostor.
“The caller
who is being presented as Governor Shettima speaks very fast as against the
relatively slower tone of Shettima. The caller’s didn’t have any Kanuri accent
whereas Governor Shettima has some Kanuri accent. The caller had at the opening
of his 20 minutes conversation with a so called Governor Amosun, first
introduced himself as a PDP member whereas Governor Shettima is known to be in
the APC.
“Also in the
conversation, the caller addresses his recipient as ‘Kunle’ with no respectful
prefix of ‘Your Excellency’ as Shettima is known to be using in most of his
conversations with fellow Governors.
“The caller
went ahead to contradict himself as he promotes and at the same time castigates
Buhari while also insulting National Leaders that include the Sultan of Sokoto,
Sa’ad Abubakar, Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi, Governor Rochas Okorocha
of Imo State and also insulting people of the entire southeast.
“The entire
aim is to set up the leaders against Governor Shettima and also incite
Nigerians from the southern part of Nigeria against him,” Gusau explained.
Shettima’s
spokesman noted that the latest plot was part of series of strategies being
deployed by a particular northern Nigerian who aspires to contest the 2019
Presidency and is waging war against some Governors including Shettima.
“We are
aware that one particular presidential aspirant from the north has declared a
war of mischief to destroy some persons including Governor Kashim Shettima.
Late last week, a group working for him came up with some series of questions
claiming they were products of a paper delivered by one Professor Ahmad Isah Harun
who is non-existent.
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