Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna

The Coalition of Northern Groups on Tuesday said former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, should not feign ignorance of the #RevolutionNow protest.

The group in a statement by the CNG’s spokesman, AbdulAzeez Suleiman, on Tuesday in Kaduna, also described Tinubu’s concept of nationalism as fake.

The CNG argued that Tinubu could not feign ignorance of the protest because the convener of the #RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore, and key supporters of the protest including Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka and Mr Femi Falana (SAN) were his allies.

The group argued that the national leader of the APC could not have claimed to be patriotic when his allies were the ones organising a revolution protest against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tinubu had in a statement “Let’s work for growth, not separation” on August 11 urged Nigerians to be nationalistic and patriotic while responding to issues affecting the country.

But the group stated that Tinubu could not justify his claim to nationalism when his actions were allegedly “against all democratic norms.”

It said, “Where was Tinubu’s sense of patriotism when his tutelage Omoyele Sowore called for a violent protest with the ultimate aim of overthrowing a democratically-elected government?

“How does Tinubu explain his conspiratorial silence when Prof Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, SAN, and other rubble rousers openly supported and backed the mastermind of the overthrow attempt?”

The former governor’s August 11 comment, the group added, only succeeded in “exposing his hypocrisy and obsession with double standards.”

Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr Tunde Rahmon, did not take his calls which rang out many times.

He had also yet to respond to a text message sent to his telephone line as of the time of filing this report.