Media entrepreneur and publisher, Dele Momodu, has criticised Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, over what he described as an “unprovoked” public confrontation with Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, during an event in Ile-Ife on Tuesday.
In a strongly worded commentary shared on his X account, Momodu recounted receiving a distressed call from a colleague who witnessed the incident, alleging that the First Lady openly rebuked the governor in the presence of dignitaries, including his wife.
Momodu said the altercation was “beneath her office,” stressing that the First Lady holds no constitutional mandate that permits her to reprimand an elected governor in public. “It is totally repugnant to openly disgrace, insult and bully the Chief Executive of Osun State before a global audience,” he wrote.
The media mogul, who also shared a past personal encounter with Mrs Tinubu, described the latest episode as part of a pattern of confrontational behaviour. He expressed surprise that a senior pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God would fault a governor for praising God, adding that the incident would likely embarrass her church community.
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Raising broader concerns, Momodu questioned whether the First Lady would have acted similarly toward a northern governor reciting the Qur’an, and accused her of operating with a sense of entitlement as though “her family owns Nigeria.”
He, however, absolved Mrs Tinubu of full responsibility, placing the blame instead on what he called the “squeamish Nigerians” who allow political figures to overreach. “Shame on the people who have sold their rights for power,” he declared.
The incident has stirred debate online, with many Nigerians weighing in on the boundaries of the First Lady’s public conduct and the broader implications for democratic decorum.