2023: Real meaning of Tinubu’s ‘Emi Lo Kan’ statement in Ogun State – Campaign spokesman

The spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, says the use of ‘Emi Lo Kan’ by the party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, has been taken out context and misconstrued by many.

NewsClick Nigeria reports that ‘Emi Lokan’ is a Yoruba phrase which loosely means it’s my turn.

The phrase was popularised by Tinubu in his June 2022 address in Abeokuta, Ogun State while pushing for the party’s presidential ticket.

Speaking on a monitored Channels Television programme on Tuesday, Keyamo said Tinubu was not addressing Nigerians by saying it was his turn to govern Nigeria. He stated that the APC presidential candidate was talking to the party’s delegates instead.

He said Tinubu was rallying the delegates and urging them to vote for him at the party’s convention.

He noted that the use of Èmi lokan was to let the delegates know the significance of having him as the party’s presidential candidate.

Keyamo took a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying he is using ‘Emi Lo Kan’ to endorse the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

“We saw in Emi Lo Kan, he was not talking to Nigerians. He was speaking to APC delegates in Ogun State where he said ‘look, if you want to say those who have invested in this party, it is my turn,’” Keyamo stated.

“Give me the chance to fly the flag of this party. Was he talking to Nigerians? He was not but yet they keep repeating it 1,000 times so that they will look as if he is talking to Nigerians and claiming some kind of moral high grounds.

“Obasanjo too was also using Emi Lo Kan in another sense. He was saying that it is the turn of some other people to produce the presidency and that is why he is endorsing somebody.”

Obasanjo had on January 1 backed Obi as his preferred contestant for the 2023 general elections, describing the former Anambra State Governor as his mentee who has an edge in next month’s polls.