Former deputy governor of Lagos State during the Michael Otedola administration, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, has said that her husband was poisoned by his friends who were beneficiaries of the president-elect, Bola Tunubu .
Ojikutu said her husband was killed because of his stance on the management of resources by the then governor ,Tunubu .
Tunubu was governor for eight years between 1999 and 2007.
While granting interview with The Punch, which was extracted by PLATFORM TIMES, Ojikutu said ” My husband died because of Lagos. My husband was poisoned by the food he took at a club. I warned him when he was relating with people who were Tinubu’s beneficiaries and he was always saying Lagos deserved better in terms of the management of the office (of the governor).
” Even Tinubu challenged him at the VIP lounge (of the club), telling him that he understood why he (my husband) was abusing him and he (my husband) said he never abused him but told Tinubu that the resources of the state could be better managed. And my husband came home and told me.
‘So on the day he was poisoned, he came home earlier than expected and complained about his stomach. He said he ate in the club and I told him I had warned him and that was where the problem started.”
When asked how she knew her husband was pousined, the former deputy governor said “I knew he was poisoned because when we were having his funeral, the people he used to enjoy himself with at the club refused to attend his funeral and they warned that whosoever came to the funeral would be in for it.
” I got to know (about that) and invited them and when they came, I challenged them. I asked them why they didn’t attend his funeral but they were giving different excuses. I told them that my husband sent me a message to them to remind everybody that “death is turn-by-turn.
“He told me that I should tell whoever was mocking him, that death is turn-by-turn. He used to take Scotch and goes to the other room (in the club) where people ate. The following morning, he was in agony, his stool was black. The doctor said he was already bleeding inside.”
She however recanted her earlier decision to Renounce Nigeria after the emergence of Tunubu .
She said that she taken a step to leave Nigeria for the chosen new country, but, was prevailed upon and had to renounce her decision.
She explained “I had already taken a step about the country whose citizenship I will take but I was advised by people not to contemplate going anywhere and these are people whose pieces of advice I cannot reject.
“The Muslim community approached me. Some said I should maybe continue to keep quiet. But what I keep telling them is that to the best of my knowledge, I didn’t offend him (Tinubu) to the level that it became a death threat.
” If there is more to it, he should bring it out so that it can be resolved. So, it is not the question of paying my emolument alone; it is now the question of what I may have done that would have led to his statement, “Is she still around?”.
All my life, I have avoided everything unethical. I have avoided situations that will put me in a position where I cannot explain myself. I have no personal issues with him (Tinubu). He misunderstood my presence at a courtesy call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo when I was in the Federal Character Commission and decided to strike. He struck and took my land. I was in a different political party anyway so we were not friends. All that time he was going through his problems with Obasanjo, he probably believed that I was taking sides but I wasn’t. So Obasanjo visited Lagos for a programme and I was invited. I entered the meeting and he walked me out of the meeting but interestingly I didn’t speak with the press because I met his (Tinubu’s) wife outside and she knelt down saying that I should not inform the press. I was ready to do that but what she said calmed me.
Are you saying your relationship with Tinubu when you were at the FCC led to a disagreement between you two Tinubu?
What do you think led to the disagreement between your husband and the powers that be?
The issue with him started with not wanting Lagos indigenes to be marginalised and wanting a better use of the state’s resources. I was surprised when they said they were using Lagos as a template for performance. Lagos cannot be a template for performance for anybody. Take the estimate and actuals, they don’t correlate. So, where is the money? That is why some people are saying that the financial book of Lagos State cannot come into the open. I am not fighting anybody but I know Nigeria can be a dream country for all of us. So people who should be up and doing and say this thing is not right. Why are our children going to places where affairs are managed properly? Being black does it mean not being sensible. Our country must put things right for all these japa to stop. I have nothing personal against Bola Tinubu but I believe he does not qualify to be my President.
Is your decision to renounce your citizenship based on fear of what he (Tinubu) can do after he is sworn in?
No. All along, even though I did not shout about it when I met friends close to him (Tinubu) and quietly told them to talk to him to let the governor pay my entitlement, they promised to look into it but I didn’t hear from them, but one of them said, “Just take care of yourself, that is all am going to say. Just be careful.” I asked why and he replied, “This your situation with this guy, I don’t understand it. When I mentioned it to him, he asked me, ‘Is she still around?’” That’s a bit too heavy.
I now came out and said, I would renounce Nigerian citizenship if this man becomes the President. When they said he was the President-elect, I said it was time to renounce (my citizenship). If it is not a threat to my life, I will still suffer because I know that everything that has a beginning must have an end, but it should not end with my life. What did I do that must end with my life? What is my offence that it must end with my life? It has already ended with my husband’s life. Must I open my eyes and allow it to end with my own life too? So, whoever is saying one thing or the other, should fear God because they don’t know half of what has gone down, or what is going down. That is why I sympathise with this nation because if somebody who is vindictive becomes the President, many people are in trouble because I am sure many people have offended him or maybe many are not talking, they will just travel out.
Has anyone advised you to withdraw your statement?
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