A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has said that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is smarter than his opponents including Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The former spokesman for the 2023 presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said his recent meeting with the president did not translate to a betrayal of his affiliation with Atiku, a former vice president.

“I am at liberty as an adult to take decisions,” Sowunmi said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday. “I am not tied to anybody. I am not anti-Tinubu,” the former critic of the president said in a sudden turn that has been heavily questioned by many Nigerians.

However, the PDP chieftain dismissed his detractors. “I own my mouth, I own my words, and I own my arguments,” he stated.

“I’ve been in this party forever. The only time we go to them is after they’ve lost and we need to shore them up. Do you know the difference between Bola and them? He doesn’t have one approach to dealing with everybody. By miles, he (Tinubu) is smarter than them. He is smarter than Peter Obi, he is smarter than them,” he added.

On arguments that he had betrayed Atiku, Sowunmi said Atiku was running a coalition that he was not part of. “Is he (Atiku) running for president now? He’s running a coalition that everybody knows I am not part of. Why would you, even in your wildest dream, think I don’t have my individuality because of what? Do you know how long I have been in the party?” he queried.

Sowunmi said the president invited him to his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of the state during the Eid celebrations.

He said having been in office for two years, “it’s not a bad time to have a conversation with the President.”

Sowunmi said, “I was concerned that this democracy was faltering and I don’t think it was his fault. I do not understand after about 24 years, political parties would just suddenly assume that they have an escape route of blaming others for their woes. I didn’t like that.

“I began to be a little bit uncomfortable with the demonising of all policies by those who don’t understand what it takes to design futuristic ideas that could work.

“I decided to engage him since people talk about his frailty. So, I jumped on that investigation.”

The PDP chieftain praised the mental agility of the president. “His brain is very alert, he is fit. You know when you are asking someone questions and he is answering without looking at the book,” he said.

“I just believe that there comes a time in the life of a nation where you must try to be sure whether the direction a leader is going is the right direction or at least whether it is the intended direction and I guarantee you, he is smart — above average,” he stated.

Sowunmi said he won’t accept Tinubu’s appointment whilst a PDP member.

Sowunmi was not the only former spokesman for Atiku who has met with Tinubu. In November 2024, Daniel Bwala, a vocal critic of the president, and former spokesman for Atiku, was appointed Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Policy Communication after meeting with the president. (Channels TV, but headline rejigged)