Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate has asked the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), to concentrate on it’s many woes and not dabble into the PDP internal affairs.
WHAT WE KNOW
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has cautioned the APC Campaign Council against interfering in the PDP’s internal affairs.
The PDP flagbearer spoke through his media aide Paul Ibe in Abuja on Friday, spoke in response to the APC campaign organisation claims that the former Vice President presidential bid is tearing the PDP apart.
Atiku Abubakar in the statement accused the APC campaign council of being an interloper and a busybody lacking in intellectual riposte, who should be bothered more by the burden of credibility dogging their campaign.
The statement further wondered why the APC it said had just woken up from hibernation is interested in what it called a minor internal issues in PDP.
The statement urged the APC to be prepared to explain to Nigerian what it referred to as weighty character questions about their candidate.
NOTABLE QUOTES
The PDP presidential candidate’s spokesman said in the statement:
“Reading through a disingenuous press release by the APC Presidential Campaign Council on issues pertaining to developments within the PDP comes across as a laughable work of an interloper.
“The release is disingenuous because it lacks any merit of a reasonable, intellectual riposte. Rather, it exposes the APC and its presidential candidate as a bunch of busy bodies who, rather than focus on the burden of credibility that continues to dog their campaign, are poking their nose into minor internal issues of the PDP.
“Well, since the APC Presidential Campaign Organization seems to have woken up from their state of hibernation, it is good to remind them that there are pending questions about the social and educational history of their candidate that Nigerians want answers to.
“We shall be kind enough to remind the APC that when, in the next few days, campaigns begin in earnest, Nigerians will require answers to some weighty character questions about their candidate and, rather than expend precious time on what is never their business, should use the remaining few days judiciously.
“Secondly, whatever is happening in the PDP is a conversation among leaders of the party and that, in itself, is a reflection of the PDP, as a living and engaging political party. The conversation in the PDP is all about consensus building, which in itself is a major ingredient for peace and unity.
“The PDP, as a truly democratic party, understands that democracy is a lively concept because it allows for people to express their opinions and, it is within that understanding that everyone becomes part of the process.
“The same, of course, cannot be said of the APC where what exists is at best graveyard peace. It is on record that in the seven years and more that the APC has been in power and with the attendant hardship that the party has foisted on the ordinary people of Nigeria, the candidate of the APC, former governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu had not for one single time stood on the side of the people.
“And, that is so for the obvious reason that the presidential candidate of the APC considers his poorly conceived presidential ambition more important than the adversity that his party has unleashed on a vast majority of Nigerians.
“We wish to remind the APC that its presidential candidate has to own the failures of the party in the last seven plus years. He should also know that Nigerians will not reward their failure with nothing less than a resounding loss in the election.“
“Tinubu and the APC ma lu’le!
“It is important to let Tinubu and his paid agents know that what obtains in the PDP is not the mundane stoicism that the APC is known for.
“Indeed, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar has established credibility before the masses of this country that he is one patriot who can be counted on to stand by the side of the people – even when the times are hard.
“Atiku is a democrat to the core and that is evident in the way that he continues to carry on with the responsibility of ensuring that the PDP rescues Nigeria from the stranglehold of the APC in the next year’s general election.“
BACKGROUND
Recall that the All Progressive Congress Campaign Council had earlier taken a swipe at the main opposition PDP and it’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
In the statement on Thursday, the APC had mocked Atiku Abubakar as the divider-in-chief rather than the unifier he claims to be.
COMMENTARY
There has been questions about campaign based on issues rather than personalities and attacks. Many have asked if the presidential campaign about to officially commence on the 28th September be about issues or attack on persons?
Will the APC be able to objectively explain to the Nigerian electorates why they did abysmally in the last seven years or they struggled to exonerate Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the failings of the government he proudly help come to power?
Is the PDP and other political parties ready to tell us why we should consider them or it’s just a play on our emotions. Yes emotions because many Nigerians already find the APC nauseating.
To many Nigerians, both the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are two sides of the same coin that should be done away with, as both sides are worth same value if any at all.
However, on the question of issues based campaign, it is gradually becoming gray on what actually constitutes the issues and attack on personalities. That is to say, where can you clearly draw the line between the two sides?
The challenge in resolving this question stems from the fact that most of the factors for which the APC and the PDP presidential candidate and even their parties are constantly criticized about, goes to the root of the true change the country desperately needs.
The question of credibility no doubt bugs both Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu. So also is the issue of proper understanding of the problems the country is currently faced with and the capacity to resolve them.
