Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has berated the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (LP), Atiku Abubakar, over his failure to show concern regarding the explosion in Ibadan.

The governor said the former vice president has neither called nor sent a condolence message to commiserate with him and the people of his state over the explosion.

He stated that President Bola Tinubu, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had called him over the incident but Atiku, a member of the same political party as him, had not reached out to him.

He said: “I thank you because politics didn’t slip into this and you came here to commiserate with us over the explosion.

“Actually, though investigation for details is still going on, it was simply illegal miners storing explosives in an environment where they shouldn’t be, where people live, not mining sites. All the lapses that allow such to happen have been looked into.

“I’m particularly grateful because the President called me. You (Obi) have reached out to me but my own party candidate, not even a call or a text message.

“I’m saying this openly so that our leaders will know that there is time for politics and time for governance and time for humanity.”

Makinde informed Obi that President Bola Tinubu called him and also sent a federal government delegation to visit the site of the explosion.

The governor added that he had presented the preliminary report of the explosion to the president and that the investigation of the incident was ongoing.

He, however, appreciated the former Anambra governor for the visit, being sympathetic to the victims and not playing politics with the sad incident.

Recall that five people died, 77 sustained varying degrees of injury, and 58 houses were damaged during the explosion that rocked Dejo Oyelese Street in Ibadan.

Ahead of the last general election, Makinde and some other PDP governors known as G5 called on Atiku or the then-National Chairman of the party, Iyiorcha Ayu to step down.

According to the governors, it was not fair on the people of Southern Nigeria for both men – who were northerners – to hold the positions at the time.