THE All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has alleged that the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is out to create a wedge between its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari.
APC PCC in a release made available to Eighteen-Eleven Media in Lagos on Thursday said
no sooner did Asiwaju Tinubu empathize with the Nigerian people facing the dual crises of fuel and new Naira notes scarcity, than the opposition PDP and the Atiku camp issued “a knee-jerk response, derailing from the issues, distorting Asiwaju’s statement and trying, in vain, to create a wedge between our presidential candidate and President Muhammadu Buhari”.
The release signed by Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Publicity of APC PCC titled:” “Fuel and New Naira Notes Scarcity: Fifth Columnists Working In Cahoots With PDP”, further pointed out that: “For the records, Asiwaju Tinubu during the APC campaign rally at Abeokuta on Wednesday, in his statement, did not mention, blame or accuse President Muhammadu Buhari for the current challenges in the country.
“Asiwaju Tinubu was only adverting government’s attention to the sabotage being carried out by some Fifth Columnists in the system, possibly working in cahoots with the PDP.
“The CBN officials, including Governor Godwin Emefiele, have said many times that enough new Naira notes have been supplied to the banks, yet our people complain that they have not been able to get the new notes.
“In recent days, many ATMs are either not working or when working they are dispensing the old notes, just a few days to the January 31 deadline.
“Similarly, Asiwaju Tinubu is aware of the salutary efforts by President Buhari to end the fuel queues, by chairing a 14-man panel. Yet the queues and agony continue.
“For a presidential candidate, who cares about the suffering of our people, he has a duty to warn government that its efforts to make life better for Nigerians are being sabotaged on several fronts”.
Mr. Onanug insisted that Asiwaju Tinubu only re-echoed what is well known and acknowledged, even by President Buhari himself at different fora, that there are Fifth Columnists in and outside of government who often throw spanners in the works against good intentions and programmes of the government.
“How does an advisory genuinely made by Asiwaju Tinubu to protect and create goodwill for the government of his party become an attack? It can only be so in the jaundiced view of the PDP”, Mr. Onanuga enthused.
“It is in this light we found amusing the directionless Atiku Campaign’s bagful of mischief in their hurriedly put together press statement meant to gain shameful mileage from the suffering of Nigerians.
“PDP and Atiku should remember not to get high on their own smoke. No political blackmail and an attempt to create a conflict between Tinubu and his long-term ally, President Muhammadu Buhari can succeed”.