The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says leaders of the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) have continued to betray their inner aversion towards thecandidacy of General Muhammadu Buhari and have indeed abandoned hiscampaigns for the February 14, presidential election.PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Saturdaysaid most leaders of the APC do not believe in the personality ofBuhari, resulting in flip-flops and double standards that have been thefate of his presidential campaign.The PDP said that while key APC leaders such as former Vice PresidentAtiku Abubakar, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidentialaspirant, Sam Nda-Isaiah have since abandoned Buhari and his ricketycampaign to an inclement fate, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fasholahas not been able to hide his preference for a younger, more educatedand more articulate President who is able to connect with the currentgeneration of citizens as embodied in President Goodluck Jonathan.“Recently, in his failed attempt to discredit the PDP Lagos stategovernorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, Governor Fashola betrayed himselfby stating that Agbaje, who is only 57 years was too old to govern Lagosstate. This is indeed the height of hypocrisy considering the fact thatthe same Governor Fashola is on the other hand campaigning for a 73years Buhari to become the President of Nigeria.Hear Fashola, “If you put an old man there, he cannot do it. If you callhim in the night, he may not pick your calls”. And we ask, who betterfits into this picture than General Buhari who could not remember thename of his running mate at his campaign rally in Owerri and nearly fellwhile trying to climb up the stage in Calabar.“It is instructive to note despite his later attempt to remedy thesituation, deep inside his heart, Governor Fashola harbors an aversionto a Buhari Presidency as evidenced in his earlier statements.“Recently, while speaking to journalists, Fashola said, “when 40-yearolds are now leading nations and our 40-year olds can’t even get to theSenate, they can’t even become governors. Are we really preparing thisgeneration for the future? Those are the issues really. We cannot pointto success in other countries and refuse to do what those people aredoing to get things right.’ Is this not as many Nigerians put it, acoded way of saying Buhari is now way too old for Aso Rock?”, the PDPsaid.The ruling party however said it is not surprised at the double standardbeing displayed by APC leaders describing such as “one of theirstock-in-trade”.It recalled that the former APC Interim Deputy National Secretary andnow its Kaduna state governorship candidate and Buhari’s seemingsupporter, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai had described him as “perpetuallyunelectable”.He was explicit, “Mallam El-Rufai wishes to remind General Buhari thathe has remained perpetually unelectable because his record as militaryhead of state, and afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians havewisely heeded. His insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity and hisparochial focus are already well known.’“In a related press interview, the same El-Rufai said he was 25 yearsold when Buhari was head of state and wondered why he will not allow theyounger generation as symbolized in President Jonathan to have a shot atthe position.“According to him ‘I don’t understand that at all and I call on youngpeople of Nigeria to take their future into their hands and ensure thatin the next election, they vote for a new generation of leaders. Thewhole world is now being ruled by young people.”The party also recalled that the self styled APC leader, Alhaji BolaTinubu has a masked repugnance for Buhari informing his questioning ofhis integrity over their botched power sharing deal in 2011 when he saidof Buhari “I don’t believe a man running for the president of Nigeriaand not the Emir-ship of Katsina should not have the needed flexibility.To be a good leader, you have to be flexible and accommodating”.The PDP then described the current sojourn between Buhari and Tinubu asa marriage of strange bedfellows driven by a very selfish cabal led byTinubu for whom Buhari is a mere pawn in their quest for access to theeconomic and political interests of the nation.The PDP said the APC has remained a party of deceitful persons whospecialize in treachery, lies and cheap blackmail. It recalled that theAPC, a party which descended so low to lie about the age of its 53 yearsold youth leader, had also in June last year issued a statement whereinit alleged that a plane carrying Kano state Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso toattend an APC rally in Ekiti to support former Governor Kayode Fayemi’sre-election bid was denied landing permission in Akure, only forKwankwaso’s Director of Press Affairs, Baba Dantiye to announce that hisboss was at another event in Kano and had no plans to travel to Ekitistate.It also recalled that in August last year, the APC queried the presenceof officials of the Department of State Service (DSS) in Osun stateahead of the August 9, 2014 governorship election, when in actual fact,the APC governor of Osun state also formally requested for theirdeployment.“Lately, this same party devised means to hack into INEC’s data-base,clone the Permanent Voter’s Card and ultimately compromise the outcomeof the elections yet has continued to deny even in the face of clearproof of culpability,” the PDP noted.Calling on Nigerians to note that the APC is a party of dubious andunreliable persons pursuing narrow and parochial interests, the PDPurged them to continue to rally round President Jonathan, who hasconsistently shown his sincerity and forthrightness on all nationalissues.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 21:23:48 +0000
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