He went further to advise Nigerians not to submit to his “overlordship as he is currently doing in Lagos".
Ahead of the February 25, 2023, presidential election, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned Nigerians to be wary of what he called "Antics of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu”.
He went further to advise Nigerians not to submit to his “overlordship as he is currently doing in Lagos".
Tinubu was the Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007 and after leaving office became the godfather of politics in the state.
Addressing Journalists on Tuesday in Asaba, Delta state capital, on behalf of the PDP's presidential candidate and the Atiku Campaign Organisation, a spokesman for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Charles Aniagwu, warned that Nigerians would be subjecting themselves to internal slavery if they allowed Tinubu to become Nigerian president.
He added that Tinubu who already captured Lagos was looking for avenues to extend his control on the other 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Aniagwu, who doubles as the Delta State information commissioner urged Nigerians to avoid repeating the mistake Lagosians made by allowing Tinubu to control everything that happens in the entire state.
"As a campaign council, we are urging Nigerians not to make the mistake of submitting themselves to internal slavery by the APC whose presidential candidate had since captured Lagos and what he is looking for is to expand his territorial control beyond Lagos to control the entire country in form of slavery.
“For those of you who may not know, a number of the major projects and programmes in Lagos are controlled by this same individual. When you get to Lagos and ask them about BRT you will discover that it is handled by this man's family.
"The signages in Lagos which is a very big business is handled by his son, the collection of taxes in Lagos which is the biggest in terms of tax collection is handled by a company that is said to belong to this same man.
“Needn't I mention other sources of revenue that Lagos should have benefited from and you also know how he handpicks those who will govern Lagos to the extent that Ambode, a man that was doing well was taken out because he disagreed with them on how to share the funds of the people of Lagos. For such a person to aspire to govern our country, it will be very detrimental to all of us.
"If we don't want to submit ourselves to slavery, Nigerians must stop Tinubu from crossing Lagos into the other 35 states and the FCT because that will amount to internal slavery for all of us where he alone will determine the next President, and who gets what and not forces of democratic governance.
“As part of that unbridled quest to expand his grip and capture the states, they have cooked up stories because they have seen that Nigerians are convinced that Atiku Abubakar is a man that has what it takes to recover this country and place it on the path of growth and development.
"They have gone to wake up a blackmailer and they call him a whistleblower. I’m sure that as journalists you know who a whistleblower is and who a blackmailer is. Michael Achimugu was not a staff of Atiku Abubakar, he was a staff of one of the support groups with the daughter.
“He was not employed to work for Atiku Abubakar. If all he does is to record his boss and his friend and you call that whistle-blowing, all of you know that is not whistle-blowing but blackmail and anybody who is a blackmailer cannot be taken seriously and we are not perturbed because it was not done with the intention to help our country.”
“The APC has not given the country any hope in the past let alone renewing it so we cannot afford to allow them to enslave the rest of the country," he added.