The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar of distorting his statement on the alleged ploy to scuttle the general elections through fuel crisis and naira notes redesign.
Tinubu said the opposition party and Atiku attempted to create a wedge between him and President Muhammadu Buhari.
At the presidential rally of APC in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Wednesday, Tinubu said some “the traitors” have plotted to sabotage the election, using the fuel scarcity and the naira redesign.
“They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200 per litre. Go and relax. They don’t want this election to be held, they want to scuttle it. Will you allow them?”, Tinubu asked the teeming supporters at the rally.
Reacting to Tinubu’s controversial statement, Atiku accused him of attacking Buhari, saying such tirades wouldn’t safe the APC presidential candidate.
In a statement, which Phrank Shaibu, his Special Assistant, Public Communication, Atiku said, “Obviously frustrated by his inability to stop the cashless policy and currency redesign of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that will curb vote buying and enhance the credibility of next month’s election, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has begun crying over his imminent defeat.
Tinubu, while addressing a crowd in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said the currency redesign was targeted at him. Well, the Holy Bible says in Proverbs 28: 1 that “the wicked run when no one is chasing them, but an honest person is as brave as a lion”.
But a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media & Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, on Thursday said contrary to Atiku’s position, Tinubu did not mention Buhari’s name in his remarks.
He said the opposition party and its candidate are “working in cahoots with fifth columnists in the system to inflict avoidable pains on our hapless people for political end.”
The statement reads “Nigerians should no longer be in doubt about those working in cahoots with fifth columnists in the system to inflict avoidable pains on our hapless people for political end.
“No sooner Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu empathised with the Nigerian people facing the dual crises of fuel and new Naira notes scarcity, than the opposition PDP and the Atiku camp issued a knee-jerk response, derailing from the issues, distorting Asiwaju’s statement and trying, in vain, to create a wedge between our presidential candidate and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“When the guilty are afraid of being uncovered, they try to push back with red-herring
mileage from the suffering of Nigerians.
“PDP and Atiku should remember not to get high on their own smoke. No political blackmail and an attempt to create a conflict between Tinubu and his long-term ally, President Muhammadu Buhari can succeed. We have bad news for Atiku and his handlers: their latest mischief is therefore doomed to fail.”
