Fidelis David in Akure
A former governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in Ondo State, Abass Mimiko, has defended the recent remarks by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, advising Nigerians to explore small-scale businesses such as selling akara, groundnuts and kulikuli, blaming the backlash on political opponents of President Bola Tinubu.
Mimiko, younger brother of former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said the First Lady’s comments had been deliberately misrepresented by members of the opposition and sections of the political elite to discredit the Tinubu administration.
Speaking during an interview with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Akure, the Ondo State capital, he described the controversy as unnecessary and politically motivated, insisting that the First Lady’s remarks had been blown out of proportion.
“I think the whole idea is the elite and the opposition to her husband that are trying to make a mountain out of this. I think there is a lot of mischief going on,” he said.
According to him, Oluremi Tinubu was not an elected public office holder but has continued to complement the administration through her Renewed Hope Initiative.
“Oluremi Tinubu herself is not an elected public office holder in Nigeria. She is just trying her best through the Renewed Hope Initiative to support the Renewed Hope Agenda of her husband.
“I think she has done a decent job, in fact an excellent job at that. The informal media is just trying to get ratings by making a whole lot of heavy weather out of this,” he added.
Mimiko urged Nigerians to appreciate rather than vilify the First Lady, arguing that her constitutional role differs from that of elected public officials.