Tundun, daughter of the late MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the 1993 general election, has criticised her sister, Hafsat Abiola-Costello for using their father’s name to promote the presidential bid of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi State.
Abiola-Costello, director-general of the Yahaya Bello presidential campaign organisation had on Sunday appeared on Arise TV where she disclosed that the similarities between her father and Bello encouraged her to take the job.
But reacting to the development on Monday while co-anchoring Morning Show, a programme on ARISE TV, Tundun said her sister did not have the right to “exploit” their father’s name for Bello’s benefit.
She said it was even more “unfortunate” that the late Abiola’s child would be involved in such political gimmicks. A visibly angry Tundun added that her half-sister should have focused on elaborating her principal’s plans for Nigeria instead of dragging their father’s name through the mud.
“I have come to expect certain things even from that individual. Just because it is not surprising doesn’t mean that it is not staggeringly inappropriate,” she said.
“I’m referring to my half-sister, Hafsat, who is the DG of the Yahaya Bello campaign and her making comparisons to my dad. There are a lot of political players in his team; not one of them feels the need to throw their fathers under the bus for the sake of their principal.
“Come out and talk about your principal, his antecedents, his plans for the future of Nigeria and leave daddy out of it.
“It is not her right because it is not her name. It is our name and it is also a name of future generations of Abiola yet unborn who should be proud of a legacy.
“My father was tortured because UN does consider solitary confinement as torture. He was tortured; then murdered and has left his legacy — only for it to be abused in this fashion.
“Everybody should just leave his name out of it, especially dishonesty, false equivalence, and cynical exploitation of a genuine struggle. It is nauseating.”
