The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has told President Muhammadu Buhari not to waste precious time campaigning for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as it is manifestly clear that Nigerians across the board have roundly rejected him.
The Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organization, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Nigerians have registered their rejection of Tinubu.
The campaign said that it is imperative to state that Nigerians will never entrust the destiny of their nation to any individual who cannot explain the source of his wealth in the face of accusations.
The campaign noted that Tinubu cannot point to any resounding legacy project he articulated and executed in his years as Governor of Lagos State, to claim credit for the achievements of his predecessors and successors in office.
Describing Tinubu as a failed State Governor, the campaign said that Nigeria cannot elect such person.
“In any case, Nigerians across the country have since established their preference for the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over and above the deflated Tinubu as the next President of our great country.
“This is because Atiku has proven himself as a leader with the required integrity, sound reputation and desired capacity, competence, presence of mind, political will and stamina to lead our nation at this critical time.
“Nigerians want Atiku on the saddle in their yearning for the return of the good days; the period of Atiku Abubakar as Vice President and Chairman of the Economic Council, when our nation witnessed unprecedented economic growth to become one of the fastest growing economies of the world, where citizens were secure, prosperous and happy.
“President Buhari should therefore not waste his time to campaign for Asiwaju Tinubu, who has lost grip of the Presidential contest and is only seen in the public as a butt of jokes for his endless gaffes, display of vacuity and incapacity to lead,” the campaign said.
The Atiku campaign said that what Nigerians expect from President Buhari at this time is to provide the enabling environment that will guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections as well as a smooth transfer of power in line with the expressed will of the people on May 29, 2023.
Meanwhile, the campaign has replied the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who claimed that Atiku plans to compound insecurity by opening the nation’s borders.
Ologbondiyan, the campaign spokesperson said, “can we then take it that since the borders are currently opened that all the allegations that he made are reflected in the Nigerian situation today? Is that what he’s saying? Because the borders are open as you and I are talking.
“But I also know that in spite of the opening of the borders that the cost of local rice is different from the cost of the imported rice. Imported rice sells for between 40,000 and 50,000 (Naira) or above, while locally milled rice sells between 30,000 and 40,000.”
On the claim that Atiku’s plan will increase insecurity in the country, Ologbondiyan said, “is Lai Mohammed claiming that when the borders were shut by President Muhammadu Buhari that we didn’t have insecurity? Or is he saying that now that the borders are open, we have more of insecurity than when it was shut?
“Alhaji Lai Mohammed is an old man. I know his proclivities, I know why he tries to come out always to come and engage with Atiku. He’s doing all that in order to be seen to be working for the failed ambition of his friend, Bola Tinubu.
“Atiku Abubakar is never going to be drawn into that arena because Atiku is speaking to Nigerians, he’s addressing the challenges of Nigeria and realistically, Nigerians are agreeing with him that he’s responding to their needs, to their desires.”
By Samuel Ogidan
