- PDP presidential candidate accuses govt of fabricating lies
The Federal Government on Thursday accused former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, of attempting to recreate the Venezuelan model by instigating crisis in Nigeria just like the opposition has done in the South American country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a press conference in Abuja on Monday, cited the reported pressure being put on the United States government by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the just concluded election not to recognise President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner until the conclusion of the Atiku’s court challenge.
The Minister also pointed at Atiku’s posters which had resurfaced in Abuja in recent times as part of the plot by the PDP flag bearer to cause crisis.
Atiku has already denied the claims.
But Mohammed said his denial of both developments is in a realization that the actions have grave implications.
The Minister who was accompanied by former Atiku’s media aide and Senior Special Assistant (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, to the conference, therefore warned the former Vice President to desist from overheating the polity as the government will not tolerate it.
Mohammed said the posters and the hiring of US lobbyists have triggered questions about what the former vice president is up to, saying: “ Is he starting a fresh campaign after the elections have been won and lost? Has he rescinded his decision to challenge the results of the presidential election in court, perhaps after realising that the results he claimed to have obtained from the INEC back server are cooked? Is he now going for self-help? What really is Atiku’s motive?”
On Atiku’s denial of the accusations, the federal government’s spokesman noted: “If the media reports are right, it means that the former Vice President has suddenly realized the grave implication of his actions, hence has decided to beat a quick retreat before it is too late. As a self-avowed democrat, he should realize that the only lawful channel for challenging the result of an election is through the courts.
“Resorting to self-help, as he seems to be doing now, is an act of desperation and the consequences are dire. There is no doubt that the PDP presidential candidate, out of desperation, is thinking of replicating the Venezuelan model right here in Nigeria. But he should realize that Nigeria is not Venezuela, and that the situations in both countries are not the same.”
The Minister affirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari won the February 23rd 2019 presidential elections fair and square, with a margin of 3,928,869 million votes, noting that the election’s credibility was attested to by local and foreign observers.
The Minister was of the view that Atiku has the right to do whatever is lawful to challenge the outcome of that election adding: “But he cannot get through the back door what he couldn’t get through the front door. That will be a pipe dream.
“If he believes hiring a foreign lobbying firm will advance his quest, we wish him the best of luck. But seeking US recognition as the winner of an election that he lost by almost 4 million votes is unconscionable. Recall, gentlemen, that after the result of the presidential election was announced, the U.S. joined other countries to congratulate President Buhari”
Mohammed further stated: “Yes, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has lost an election. But he will not be the first or the last person to lose an election, and he should realize that losing an election is not the end of the world. He has challenged the result of the election in court. That’s just as well.
“However, he should not give the impression that he does not have confidence in the judicial process, which is what resorting t self-help implies. He should stop overheating the polity and quit trying to instigate a political crisis in Nigeria. No citizen, no matter how highly placed, is above the laws of the land. Enough is enough!”
While disowning the posters, the former Vice President had dismissed as “total fabrication” the allegation which he said was instigated by the President Buhari campaign that he (Atiku) spent $30,000 to hire a US lobby group to persuade the US Congress to stop the inauguration of the President.
In a reaction to what it called “shameless lies,” a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Paul Ibe, said that the “latest dirty propaganda” against the former Vice President “didn’t come as a surprise to us because lying has so far become their only bragging rights of competence.”
He explained that “lying has become a culture to the APC administration and therefore, we are not surprised by their latest diversionary allegations.”
The statement added: “Since Atiku resisted pressure not to go to court, the APC has been behaving like a cat on hot bricks because the outcome of the 2019 elections has exposed and shattered the facade of their dubious integrity.”
According to the statement, “the APC are behaving nervously like a thief living under the fear of being exposed and shamed”, and that “they are now using fake news against Atiku instead of focusing on defending themselves in the court.”
“For a party that has broken the worst record in election rigging, the APC doesn’t have any iota of integrity to be taken seriously by anybody”, the statement added.
The statement further said: “Atiku’s court case has become their biggest burden because it exposes their integrity as a sham, and instead of defending their stolen mandate in court, they are now using fake news to divert public attention from the historic electoral heist they have committed against Nigerians.”
The statement added that no amount of diversionary propaganda and fake news campaign by APC will stop Atiku Abubakar from continuing the court action he started to reclaim the stolen mandate.
Meanwhile, the PDP presidential candidate has disowned posters of him in circulation.
In a separate statement by Ibe, the former Vice President noted that the campaign season is over, saying: “The tainted electoral victory by the incumbent is being challenged in court.
“We refuse to be distracted, which is exactly the objective of our opponents, but to remain focused on diligently pursuing our election petition with a view to retrieving the stolen mandate.”
Tribune
