The Northern Youths Movement (NYM) has sharply criticized former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, over his recent remarks targeting key figures within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Lamido had recently called Wike a “small boy” in PDP history, questioning his relevance in the party’s early years and asking where he was in 1999.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, signed by Mallam Ishaya Jato, Chairman of the NYM, the group reminded Lamido that many of those he described as “small boys” were instrumental in keeping the PDP alive following the 2014 rebellion, in which Lamido himself had played a significant role before eventually backing out.
The NYM also pointed out the irony in Lamido’s stance, noting that many of those who were seen as young during the formation of the PDP in 1998 had since matured and now held influential positions within the party.
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In contrast, the group suggested that some of the party’s elder statesmen, such as Lamido, continued to act with a lack of political maturity.
“Little wonder that after being a Minister and Governor for eight years, Lamido had no other candidate to present for the PDP governorship race in Jigawa State than his own son,” the statement read. “If, in Lamido’s view, 57-year-old Wike is still a ‘small boy’, what does that make him, 36 years after he became a political elder? Should he now be regarded as an ‘ancestral PDP elder’?”
The group also accused Lamido of continuously disparaging other senior members of the PDP, including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
They cited instances from 2019 and 2020 where Lamido belittled these leaders, calling Obasanjo an “unknown prisoner” during the PDP’s formative years and claiming that Atiku was his political junior.
“The way Lamido treated these leaders—his own party elders—suggests that he has no regard for the values of respect and unity,” the NYM said, adding that Lamido’s public criticisms of Wike and other PDP governors, like Seyi Makinde and Samuel Ortom, were merely expressions of frustration after the party’s 2023 presidential election defeat.
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The statement added by referencing the ongoing crisis within the PDP, which has yet to recover from its loss in the 2023 presidential election. The NYM called for greater unity and cooperation among party members to rebuild the PDP, rather than engage in divisive rhetoric that only further weakens the party’s foundation.
