The presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council again clashed on Thursday over the allegation by Tinubu that the PDP was plotting to scuttle the February election.
While Tinubu accused the PDP of embezzling the $16bn meant for the power sector, the Atiku-Okowa campaign council asked the Department of State Services and other agencies to investigate the ex-Lagos state governor for planning to undermine the country through a violent revolution and riot.
Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters in Makurdi, the Benue State capital on Thursday, Tinubu said his previous comments on fuel scarcity and currency redesign were misinterpreted, stressing that what he meant was that the PDP neglected the oil industry and awarded oil blocs to themselves and their cronies.
He said, “They (PDP) met good oil prices for 16 good years, they didn’t remember gas pipelines. They are what I called saboteurs yesterday. They gave PMS licences to their supporters and sympathisers. They are the ones who started creating fake queues. PDP, enough is enough.”
He added that the $16bn said to have been invested in the power sector was allegedly shared by PDP chieftains and their cronies in Abuja.
Tinubu promised to institute student loans and restore hope to Nigerians, particularly, internally displaced persons in the state and workers, who he said were being owed salary arrears.
He described the party governorship candidate, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, as a harbinger of hope, faith and prayers.
Earlier, the leader of the party in the state who doubles as the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr George Akume, said the issue of the Muslim/Muslim ticket was not a bad one, adding that Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, had what it takes to reposition Nigeria if given the opportunity.
But in a riposte to Tinubu’s allegation that the PDP masterminded the lingering fuel scarcity in a bid to scuttle the poll, the PDP PCC claimed his outburst at the APC’s presidential rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, was an introduction to the violence he was planning.
Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, made the claim in a statement on Thursday.
Shaibu stated “Tinubu’s outburst at the APC rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, January 26, 2023, was a prelude to the violence the Lagos godfather was planning.
“Recall that Tinubu, while addressing a crowd at Abeokuta, nearly declared himself as the winner of an election that is 29 days away using the same entitlement mentality that he used in blackmailing his party men into getting the ticket for the general election.’’
Citing the APC candidate’s statement that the coming ‘’election is a revolution,’’ the PCC contended that Tinubu deserved to be interrogated by security agencies as he had no immunity against prosecution.
It stated, “Tinubu is not too big and he has no immunity neither is he above the law of the land to be interrogated by the Department of State Services or by the Nigeria Police. To avoid bloodshed in the coming election, the APC standard bearer’s comments must not be waved aside. For clarity, in political science, a revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favour of a new system.”
PDP allegation
The media aide further alleged that “from the information available to us, Tinubu has begun releasing money to some of his quack activists to stage protests in some strategic locations in the country, especially in Abuja, to cause violence ahead of the polls which he will lose.
“On the surface, the protests will be about the lingering petrol scarcity which he had refused to comment on before the election. Some demonstrations will also be held against the Central Bank of Nigeria to force the apex bank to extend the deadline for the currency swap.’’
Shaibu further submitted that Tinubu’s accusation that the PDP was behind the petrol scarcity and the scarcity of the new naira notes, was an absurd claim, given the fact that the PDP had not been in power for the last eight years.
In his reaction, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said Tinubu’s allegation against the opposition party was an indication that ‘’he has lost his mind.’’
He added, “All this underscores the unstableness and unsoundness of mind of the APC presidential candidate. He cannot stand on an issue. He is unsteady and he cannot decipher the issues. I am not sure he is aware of where he is.
“He is saying today that the PDP is sabotaging and encouraging fuel shortages when the Minister of Petroleum is the President of the government that he boasted of installing and he turns around to blame the PDP.
‘’That goes to show whether indeed this man has the soundness of mind to aspire to be the president of this country. He is not aware of his environment. It is sad and terrible.’’
Meanwhile, the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has again stressed that he was completely in favour of restructuring, as demanded by the southern states in the country.
He said on Thursday that his administration would embark on the restructuring of the country if he emerged as the president.
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