Mahdi Shehu calls out Onanuga’s credibility as APC, PDP trade barbs over Turaki’s remarks
Kano-based businessman and political commentator Mahdi Shehu has offered a satirical response to remarks by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who accused Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Kabiru Turaki of committing treason.
On November 18, 2025, Turaki addressed journalists outside the PDP national secretariat in Abuja amid escalating internal factional clashes.
He appealed to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the international community to monitor Nigeria’s political developments, warning that the country’s democracy faces an “existential threat” from unscrupulous elements.
Here Is What He Wrote On His Official X Handle
The statement preceded chaos at the secretariat, where Turaki’s National Working Committee vied for control against a rival faction. Onanuga swiftly condemned Turaki’s call as an invitation for foreign interference in sovereign affairs, branding it “treasonable” and labeling the PDP leader a “treasonable felon.”
In an X post on November 19, Shehu lampooned Onanuga’s outburst with vivid analogies, such as “a black pot calling cattle black” and “a lion calling a hen wicked.”
He questioned the critic’s credibility, referencing unpaid salaries owed to staff from Onanuga’s tenure as editor of the defunct TheNews magazine in the 2000s.
The episode highlights deepening rifts between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and PDP factions, fueling discourse on political accountability and external diplomatic roles amid Nigeria’s economic strains.
