The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been described by the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, as a ‘political prostitute’.
Both men went back and forth on Twitter and fought dirty on the social media platform.
Keyamo, who is the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, stated this on Sunday via his verified Twitter handle.
Keyamo’s comment comes as a reply to Dogara’s earlier statement on Twitter against the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Recall that Dogara had described President Muhammadu Buhari’s endorsement of Tinubu as a satire.
Dogara stated this in a tweet, “I know that PMB loves to crack jokes but I didn’t know he would escalate it to the level of satire. Asiwaju’ll give his best to Nigeria, really? Fake certificates, fake parentage, golden triangle escapades, racketeering. No PMB, Nigeria does not deserve his best but we get the satire.”
In a swift reaction, Keyamo on his Twitter handle called Dogara a back-stabber.
“My brother and law school mate, @YakubDogara, this tweet is beneath you. You are actually pained by the support of PMB for @officialABAT, two leaders who have stayed true to their beliefs and causes, unlike the political prostitute, wanderer and back-stabber that you’ve always been,” he said.
However, responding to Keyamo’s statement, Dogara said, “My brother, I have a name for you but because it’s not a good one, I won’t say it as a cost of friendship. Yes, we were mates at Law School but I am waiting for you to win a councilorship election first so we can be mates in politics. Learn to punch below your weight category.”
Not to be outdone, Keyamo hit back again: “My brother, it is sad you think everyone must be rated by elections won and lost. You’ve just insulted millions of Nigerians in their various fields of endeavour. Let me remind you that I’ve reached the height of our profession & you must learn to respect your senior at the bar!”
Dogara returned with: “In spite of what we now know and what you have said before about your candidate we haven’t rushed to the Courts, yet you feel so entitled to call us names! My good friend, the law I studied was to save me from the morass of propaganda by gaslighters -in-chief and their ilks.”
Recall that Dogara was a Tinubu supporter until a few months ago when he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing the APC’s decision to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket as the reason.
The former Speaker is on his third stint in the PDP having left them in 2014, but re-joined again before the 2019 general election.