From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as laughable the claim by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that its presidential and vice presidential candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, respectively, are distancing themselves from the Buhari administration.
APC argued that the fact that the Buhari government deftly managed two economic recessions, and pulled the country back from the precipice where PDP’s years of atrocious rule is enough reason to identify with the regime.
In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party argued that the opposition party betrayed extreme hypocrisy and folly in its fake mission to unify Nigeria in condemning Asiwaju’s consultative visit to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Titled, “PDP fanning embers of hate, disunity”, APC, in the statement noted: “Rattled by the recent statesmanly visit of our presidential candidate to former President Goodluck Jonathan, the opposition, PDP, has hit the panic button in a false alarm, saying the move won’t help our candidate and party.
“Again, the PDP proves itself as a party afflicted with chronic myopia, lacking in vision and incapable of recognizing the imperative of elevating the common good of our country above partisan quibbles.
“That party’s obsession with puerile partisanship blinds it to existential and strategic opportunities to heal old wounds, mend fences, and build bridges of national unity and harmony. Sadly, the PDP would rather fan the embers of hate and division,” the statement read.
Reacting further, the ruling party noted: “Asiwaju’s consultative visit to the former President was a strategic move for national unity and cohesion, a move worthy of commendation and emulation. The infantile outburst on the Asiwaju/Jonathan parley by the same PDP that claims to be on a self-styled mission to unify Nigeria only betrays the party’s extreme hypocrisy and folly.
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“The PDP’s track record of 16 years of misrule, corruption and squandermania, remains indelible in the consciousness of Nigerians. Contrary to PDP’s laughable claim that the duo of Asiwaju Tinubu and Shettima are distancing themselves from President Buhari’s administration, it is on record that this government deftly managed two economic recessions, and pulled the nation back from the precipice where PDP’s years of atrocious rule left it hanging precariously.
“Our party and its presidential candidate are seeking the mandate of Nigerians to consolidate on the foundation of restoration and greatness that has been laid across all sectors by the Buhari administration. The PDP and its co-peddlers of hate and disunity cannot stop this noble aspiration,” APC noted.
Meanwhile, Tinubu has chided the opposition party, noting that jolted by its unedifying mirror image Asiwaju lucidly presented to Nigerians, PDP descended into the pit of hatred and abuses.
He queried the moral basis for PDP’s plot to return to power eight years after leaving thousands of uncompleted projects and commitments in trillions of naira.
The APC presidential candidate, in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media & Publicity, APC presidential campaign council, argued that a party still battling with a leadership crisis and without a legacy of visionary planning has no place in Nigeria’s future.
“They spent 16 years and forgot that there is a railway infrastructure that can do haulage, human carriage, animal and food carriage across the length and breadth of the country,” Tinubu said.
“They (PDP) got there and turned it into an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for the leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow.
“We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them,” Tinubu said.