Apparently miffed by the verbal barrage targeted at his person, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday descended on his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.
Tinubu implored Nigerians to beware of Atiku’s sugar-coated promises and ignore whatever he says, even as he described the PDP candidate as a bloody liar and desperate politician who should never be trusted.
“We need to warn Nigerians to be wary of the sugar-coated promises of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar and his Peoples Democratic Party as they embark on their inordinate and desperate campaign to gain power at all cost,” Tinubu warned.
Atiku, through his presidential campaign council, had at the weekend implored security agencies to place the APC presidential campaign council on watch list, following what he alleged to be comments made by Tinubu that could incite violence and disrupt the smooth conduct of the 2023 presidential election.
The PDP also accused the APC presidential candidate of perceiving the 2023 election as a war.
But after following the tirades against him throughout the weekend, Tinubu fired back at Atiku and the PDP, urging Nigerians not to be fooled by the fake history being written by the major opposition party about its 16-year rule when it ought to have remained shameful of its governance record.
“Our advice to Nigerians is to ignore anything Atiku Abubakar says. He is a bloody liar and a desperate politician who should never be trusted. Atiku is not coming to recover Nigeria from anything, he is only coming to restore it back into his pocket and those of his cronies,” he stated.
Speaking through the director, Media & Publicity, of the APC presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, the APC flagbearer expressed shock that Atiku could still be bold to look Nigerians in the face and ask for their votes despite what former President Olusegun Obasanjo, his erstwhile boss, had written about him.
Onanuga noted in a statement: “A party that should be eternally shameful about its appalling record in governance between 1999-2015 is now busy rewriting history, embellishing the locust years as if it was a golden era in our history.
“Of course, this is fake history at its worst. We are not fooled. Nigerians should also not be fooled about the boldfaced lies, being articulated by the candidate and his party.
“What is more shocking is Atiku’s audacity in standing up to ask for our votes despite what his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote about him in his book, ‘My Watch’. Obasanjo wrote that it would have been an unpardonable mistake “and sin against God to foist him on Nigeria”. Obasanjo still believes so till tomorrow.
“Obasanjo still rues till today making Atiku his vice president in 1999, only to discover later, “his shadowy parentage, his propensity to corruption, his tendency to disloyalty, his inability to say and stick to the truth all the time, a propensity for poor judgment, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety, truth and national interest for self and selfish interest.”
Tinubu, however, noted that he and his party are not completely baffled by Atiku’s latest desperation since it is apparent that 2023 would be his last shot at the presidency.
Onanuga said, “Aware that this is his last shot at the elusive presidency, Atiku, while on the hustings, has been spewing series of lies, making empty promises and presenting a false narrative about our present reality and the legacy of the 16-year ignoble era of the PDP administration, of which he was a principal actor.
“He claimed at his rally in Abuja on Saturday that the country is not secure for trading and farming, a false narrative that he has been pushing around for some time, since he relocated to Nigeria from his base in Dubai, principally to contest the election.
“We believe in his private moment that Atiku will concede that his view about insecurity is exaggerated. Our country is certainly better secure than in 2015 when the PDP allowed insurgents to seize 17 local councils in Borno and some four councils in Atiku’s home state of Adamawa State, when Abuja was under constant bomb attacks and people slept with eyes wide open. What further proof of progress made by the APC does Atiku need than the fact that he was able, recently, to carry his party men and women to Maiduguri to hold a rally, without any attacks by insurgents and bandits.
“Atiku can also drive smoothly from Yola, his state capital to Jada, his home town on a reconstructed road by the Buhari-led APC administration. The road was impassable for 8 years Atiku was Vice President and got progressively bad and totally cut off from civilisation until the Buhari government reconstructed it.”
Puncturing some of the promises made by the PDP candidate at a rally in Abuja on Saturday, Tinubu said, “Atiku claimed that our country has the highest number of out-of school children in the world, without telling his audience that the problem, which was exacerbated by banditry in North West and insurgency in North East, took its root from the stewardship of his party when the population of out-of-school children phenomenally rose from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2015.
“Meanwhile, as Nigerian universities were left to rot under the PDP’s watch , Atiku and his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, opted to set up their own universities, ABTI-American University and Bell University, meant for the children of the rich.
“A pointer that this former vice-president has not changed in his character as portrayed by Obasanjo was his promise to sell the newly commercialised NNPC Ltd and all its assets and subsidiaries for just $10 billion. Even before inviting bids, he had already undervalued the oil conglomerate, the way he undervalued Nigerian companies he was asked to sell, under the abused privatisation programme of the Obasanjo administration.
“Nigerians will remember that he made a similar promise in 2019, saying he would sell the NNPC to his friends and cronies. Surely, he retains the same mindset, though he has changed the terminology to ‘privatisation’.
Tinubu wondered whether the PDP can ever be a recovery vehicle for the country, judging by its old record of spending $16 billion on power, which he said only resulted in worsening darkness.
“Can the party ever be a recovery vehicle when it also midwifed the privatisation of power distribution to cronies, also leading to more darkness?” He queried.
He further said the only hope Nigeria has for uninterrupted electricity is the $2.5 billion Nigeria-Siemens deal initiated by the Buhari administration.
Tinubu urged Nigerians to further ask the PDP whether it is hoping to be a recovery vehicle for the armed forces, when it is the same party that “diverted billions of dollars allocated for arms, into private pockets and marabouts.
You’re Unfit To Be Nigeria’s President, Atiku Replies, Pledges Prudent Use Of Security Vote At Channels Tv’s ThePeoples Townhall
But refusing to chicken out of the verbal war, Atiku replied Tinubu immediately, saying he remains unfit to be Nigeria’s president because of his shifty persona.
Atiku who spoke through his special assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said, “I must confess that I consider this statement a curious endnote to what Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Campaign Spokesman referred to as “A warning to Nigerians”.
He said Onanuga, in the release, laboured unsuccessfully to paint the PDP presidential candidate as patently dishonest.
Shaibu stated: “However, our reaction to the APC is that currently, their party has pushed Nigeria deeper into the abyss of poverty, insecurity, indebtedness. It will be good to challenge the APC to acknowledge one aspect of Nigeria’s national life where they have not reversed the fortunes of the country compared to what was handed to them in 2015.
“We know that the only reason that the APC is re-presenting an old story about Atiku is because they are aware of the rejection of their party and its presidential candidate by Nigerians.
Shuaibu added that as much as PDP is aware that the country is in the season of fireworks, he got “the sense that Onanuga went over the top when he described Atiku as “a man who is not prepared for the job he is applying for and a man who cannot be entrusted with our commonwealth.”
He described Onanuga’s statement as bad public relations for the APC presidential candidate, noting that good public relations doesn’t consist in attacking a critical public opinion, but seeks to create understanding instead.
He said, “It is shameful and unfortunate that all that the APC can rely upon to campaign is what former President Olusegun Obasanjo had said. It is obvious that what the ruling party is hoping to achieve is to continue in their old habit of obfuscation and taking attention of the electorate away from issues that are critical to this election season.”
Also yesterday, Atiku urged Nigerians to resist moves by APC to snatch power from them by force.
In the newsletter titled: “Join me in the army in defence of Democracy” Atlku said “In all of the states where we have gone to hold campaign rallies.
“I have made it mandatory that we hold interactive sessions with diverse audiences of stakeholders in those states.
“For one thing, Governor Okowa and I believe that the Recover Nigeria campaign that our great party, the PDP is driving must have the buy-in of a vast majority of Nigerians.
“For another, we believe that those interactive sessions are about taking our campaign to folks like you: great Nigerians who refuse to give up on the country, in spite of the failings of the ruling APC party.
“The energy that will be required to fully Recover Nigeria must be one that makes us operate in concentric circles.
“The APC and their presidential candidate have already told us how ruthless they can be in order to ‘snatch’ power. That goes to show how low they can go to arm-twist the democratic expression of the people.
“But we shall not allow them to snatch your power away from you. Working together as ONE, we shall be the bulwark of our democracy.
“Our collective will as a people standing firm for the right cause shall wall the anti-democratic intentions of the APC and their presidential candidate.
“When we vote out the APC and record victory for the PDP in the coming polls, it will be clear to all that democracy trumps autocracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has said he will advocate for accountability in the use of security votes if he emerges president.
Atiku who stated this during #ThePeoplesTownHall yesterday also likened the current challenges experienced in Nigeria to during the civil war.
The PDP candidate who appeared at the gathering with his running mate and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa also said a strong leadership is required to end Boko Haram, adding that he still doesn’t understand why the sect has not be dealt with after these years.
Answering a question on security votes, he said “Security votes have been part of governance. What is required is accountability. That’s what is absent. I will advocate for accountability of security votes”.
He added that every geo-political zone has its own security challenges, stressing that he will ensure devolution of powers and resources.
” I don’t think I have seen Nigeria go through the challenges it is currently facing, since the civil war,” he added.
On Boko Haram he said, “I still can’t understand why we have Boko Haram. I still can’t find a place in the Borno area where anyone can hide.
“I’ve been to Sambisa and I didn’t see a forest, just shrubs here and there. When I get there, I will understand. The solution is strong leadership”.
He added that “MarketMoni and TraderMoni has become a political tool”.
On his part, Okowa, while speaking on the challenge of Militancy said,
“Once you provide the needed governance, it’s unlikely militancy will return. We will provide services that reach out to all.
“We will make the economy work again. The full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act would be key. We will ensure we have an efficient NDDC that works for the people.
“That’s not what we have at the moment. When things are functional and people can see the development, you won’t have militancy return”.
He added that Atiku is a man with a lot of experience and that he is ready to communicate with Nigerians in an inclusive government.
Ishaku, Diri, Adeleke, Orji, Suswam, Aliero To Lead Atiku’s Campaign In Regions
Meanwhile, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization (PCO) yesterday appointed some former governors as zonal chairman for the Atiku/Okowa campaign in zones where protesting G-5 governors held sway.
The appointments are with immediate effect, the director general of the PCO and Sokoto State governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal declared.
It was learnt that the move is aimed at filling the voids left by the G-5 governors in their regions pending a truce between the conflicting camps.
According to Tambuwal, former Abia State governor, Senator Theodore Orji will chair the party’s campaign in the South East.
Others are Governor Douye Diri (South-South); Governor Ademola Adeleke, (South West); former Benue Governor Senator Gabriel Suswam (North-Central); Governor Darius Ishiaku (North East); former Kebbi State governor Senator Adamu Aliero (North-West).
He said, “The leadership of the Presidential Campaign Organization (PCO) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved the appointment of the following into their respective offices. These appointments are with immediate effects.”
The committee also made appointments into zonal liaison desks, namely South-East, Chief Dan Ulasi; South-South, Sen James Manager; South-West, Dr. Eddy Olafeso; North-Central, Hon. Musa Elayo; North-East, Ibrahim Dan Dija; North-West, Dr Akilu Indabawa.
It also appointed Senator Dino Melaye as director of public affairs among several other appointments.
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