Follow Us on Google
• APC on collision course with Nigerians, says Makinde campaign
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the revised All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council as “a crowded confession of Tinubu’s fear,” saying its size cannot shield the President from voters’ verdict on his administration.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential campaign organisation also criticised the council, describing it as a “Nebuchadnezzar Coalition” and warning that the ruling party was on a collision course with Nigerians over economic hardship and insecurity.
Atiku, in a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, said the expanded council showed that President Bola Tinubu was more “eager to count politicians than answer for what Nigerians have endured.”
The former vice-president said the inclusion of more political figures, including members of other parties, could not erase the hardship experienced by citizens under the administration.
“When the first list drew criticism, Tinubu had a chance to show that he understood the country’s anger. Instead, he returned with an even longer list, reaching into other parties for more names. He is collecting politicians like shields against public judgment.
“Let him collect them all. Not one of them can cast a vote for the mother who can no longer feed her children or the family still waiting for a loved one taken by kidnappers.”
Atiku also condemned the inauguration of the APC campaign council inside the Presidential Villa, arguing that the seat of government belonged to Nigerians and should not serve as a venue for partisan activities.
“The Presidential Villa belongs to the Nigerian people. It is not a campaign venue or the private property of any political party. Using it for an APC political event is a gross breach of public trust and a troubling abuse of public office.
“Abuja has no shortage of halls and public spaces large enough to host a campaign gathering. Why, then, did Bola Tinubu choose to inaugurate his campaign council at night, behind the gates of the Presidential Villa?” he asked.
He argued that Nigerians would assess Tinubu’s bid for another term through their living conditions, rather than the number or influence of politicians supporting him.
“No campaign council, however crowded, can make food affordable, restore a worker’s purchasing power or explain why the sacrifices demanded of ordinary Nigerians never seem to reach Tinubu’s own political circle,” Atiku said.
Other News
“On January 16, the ballot will contain no column for the size of a campaign council. Nigerians will judge Tinubu by the lives they have lived under his government: the mother who cannot afford enough food for her children, the worker who spends most of his wages getting to work, the parents who cannot pay school fees, and the families afraid that loved ones may not return safely from a journey.”
The ADC candidate said his party had assembled a focused campaign team to present its case to Nigerians, adding that citizens dissatisfied with the administration’s performance constituted an “automatic volunteer wing” of its campaign council.
Similarly, the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), in a statement by its Director of Strategic Communication, Richard Ihediwa, said the APC’s expanded council could neither conceal the administration’s alleged failures nor manufacture public acceptance.
It argued that political influence and the power of incumbency could not override citizens’ right to demand accountability and change through the ballot.
“This ‘Nebuchadnezzar Coalition’ is headed for the rocks as it cannot whitewash the failures of the Tinubu administration, nor rewrite the painful realities confronting citizens,” the organisation stated.
The APM campaign questioned what explanation the council would offer families struggling with hunger, young people facing unemployment and citizens deprived of basic services.
“What explanation will the Tinubu-led ‘Nebuchadnezzar Coalition’ offer millions of families who go to bed every night on empty stomach and our teeming hardworking youths whose destinies have been fractured by pervasive unemployment worsened by President Tinubu’s anti-people policies?” it asked.
The organisation maintained that the election would turn on public confidence in the government’s performance.
“The APC can further enlarge their ‘Nebuchadnezzar Coalition’ but it certainly cannot assemble the Nigerian people by force of political influence. Elections are not won by the size of a campaign council or the number of powerful figures gathered.
“They are won by the confidence of citizens who must ultimately decide whether their lives have improved under the government seeking their votes.
“In every democracy, the ultimate verdict belongs to the people, and no presidential campaign council, however imposing, can stand between a disillusioned people and their determination for a change through the ballot,” it stated.
