The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described any vote by Nigerians to elect Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a transition from the frying pan to fire.
He urged Nigerians to reject him and his political party, the APC.
The Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, in a statement, on Sunday said the PDP candidate, urged Nigerians not be deceived by Tinubu’s message of renewed hope as it is “hopelessness in disguise”.
“It is one week to the election, and expectedly, campaigns have reached fever pitch. But amid the excitement and tension, voters must guard their hearts jealously as the ruling APC will try to use every subterfuge and stratagem in its manual to deceive them once more. These last days are similar to the end time predicted in the Holy books.
According to Shaibu, one of the grand deceptions was when Tinubu started his campaign mid last year with a promise to continue with President Muhammadu Buhari’s “impeccable legacy”, but in the last three weeks, changed and started promising to reverse them.
Atiku asked Tinubu to make up his mind on whether he was running on Buhari’s legacy or running against it, so as not to deceive innocent voters.
“Tinubu says the petrol scarcity and the Naira shortage are aimed at scuttling his ambition. Later, he and his acolytes said they were only voicing out against the policy out of sheer concern for the masses.
“These are people who never muttered a word when students spent 10 months at home in 2020, and eight months at home in 2022, due to unprecedented university lecturers’ strike.
“These are people that never criticised the President at the height of the insecurity when schoolchildren were being abducted almost on a daily basis and when the Baira witnessed a free fall that led to a sharp increase in the price of goods…
“Someone needs to tell Tinubu and his band of APC governors to please give up this irritating ostentatious performance of moral propriety. They are not angry about the Naira redesign because they love the masses. They are only angry that their plan to unleash bullion vans on poor Nigerians has been thwarted.” Shaibu further explained.
According to Shaibu, should Tinubu become the president of Nigeria, he would turn the country into his personal fiefdom and a one party state by muzzling the opposition as he had done in Lagos since 1999.
Shaibu added that Tinubu would also turn the National Assembly into his foot stool and orchestrate the fall of the 4th Republic.
“Tinubu has turned Lagos State into his personal fiefdom by arrogating all powers to himself so much so that even the current Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, publicly refers to him as ‘my principal’, clearly shows that Tinubu is far above the constitutionally recognised authority in the state.
“To keep governors in check, he buys the loyalty of all 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly who openly sing the Tinubu anthem in the hallowed chamber.
“It is through the instrumentality of the House that he successfully impeached two of his deputy governors – Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and Femi Pedro. It was also through this subservient House that Tinubu passed the obnoxious governors’ pension law that would see him earn more allowances than a former president.
“He has also infiltrated and bastardised every facet of Lagos society, including transport unions who openly extort money from transporters and shop owners with impunity because they have pledged their loyalty to him.
“He appointed his daughter, Folasade, as the Iyaloja-General of Lagos markets, giving her enormous powers to impose levies and shut down markets from all markets in the state. Traders who are not members of the ruling party are victimised.
“A firm reportedly owned by him, Alpha Beta Consulting, has for the last 20 years, maintained exclusive rights to generate taxes on behalf of the Lagos State Government.
Shaibu said Tinubu’s actions had shown that he had no respect for President Buhari or his office.
He said that in 2018, President Buhari and some northern governors personally appealed to Tinubu to let Governor Akinwunmi Ambode contest a second term, but Tinubu ignored their entreaties thereby publicly embarrassing the President.
He alleged that Tinubu orchestrated the removal of respected former Edo State Governor John Oyegun and ensured that Adams Oshiomhole, emerged as the national chairman of the APC in 2018.
