Victor EzejaPeoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has chided the All Progressives Congress (APC) for taunting the opposition party over the current internal wrangling.
Atiku advised the APC to focus on how to tackle its challenges as the electoral campaigns are set to start in few days time instead of poke nosing on internal issues within the PDP.
In a statement released on Saturday, September 23, 2022, by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku referred to a press release issued by the APC Presidential Campaign Council on Friday which down played his chances ahead of the 2023 elections given the internal crisis currently rocking the party.
Atiku in his response described the APC campaign council’s release as “a laughable work of an interloper”, adding that it is normal in a democratic setting for people to express their diverse opinions to be heard so that a collective understanding can be reached at end, and that is what the PDP is currently experiencing.
Part of the statement reads “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.”
The statement said APC needed to be reminded “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.
“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.”
The statement claimed that the PDP presidential candidate has established his credibility before the masses, and is a “patriot who can be counted on to stand by the side of the people, even when the times are hard.”
It further described Atiku as a core democrat who maintains his focus on the task of ensuring that the PDP succeeds in rescuing the country from the “stranglehold of the APC in the next year’s general election.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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