The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council yesterday debunked the rumour on the social media that its standard bearer in next year’s presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has withdrawn from the race on health ground.
The council described the rumour as a figment of the imagination of the sponsor of the false and misleading posts.
Also yesterday, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu urged Christians to support Tinubu.
A statement by the Council spokesman, Festus Keyamo, in Abuja said that the APC standard bearer “is strong, healthy and fit enough for the coming campaigns”.
Keyamo said that “the opposition will hear loud and clear from him (Tinubu) soon.”
It was alleged that supporters of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, were responsible for the false and misleading post on some social media handles.
The Council also faulted an offensive and hate video, allegedly made and circulated by Obi, in which he accused an amorphous and non-existent “Tinubu’s Group” of spreading a Whatsapp message calling on Yorubas not to vote for him.
Denying the purported WhatsApp message, the Council spokesman said that all the groups supporting the Tinubu/Shettima ticket have clear designations with well-known promoters.
Keyamo said: “it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorised and for which we take responsibility.
“We challenge Mr. Peter Obi to reveal the source and name(s) behind that nebulous Whatsapp message.
“We wish to state that it is obvious Mr. Peter Obi deliberately concocted that message and circulated that offensive video himself as a campaign strategy in order to come across as a victim of some kind of ethnic agenda, whereas in truth, he is the real agent provocateur of an ethnic agenda.
“As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr. Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a Governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate.
“We have it on good authority that part of the “US Strategy” (just like the failed “Dubai Strategy” his former boss and himself adopted in 2019) was to return to the country and spread ethnic hatred amongst the voters and cause chaos, then pose as the victim. They have just kick-started that plot by orchestrating and circulating the said video.
“We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a Presidential Candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our faultlines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions.
“This is completely unbecoming of a Presidential Candidate that hopes to unite this country. Again, we note that Mr. Obi’s latest stunt is consistent with what is now widely perceived as his adoption of hate as campaign strategy, having consistently failed to rein in his known and identifiable supporters, mostly domiciled on social media, threatening political opponents with violence and death.
“Moreover, here is a man known as a sectional irredentist, with public records showing him expelling Nigerians from a section of the country from Anambra State while he was Governor and has decidedly resorted to ethno-religious card in his activities and messaging thus far, now accusing his better of being an ethnic champion. What a supreme irony!
“We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr. Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the “US Plan”. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn this tactless tactics and cheap manoeuver by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan.
“Our advice to Mr. Peter Obi is to quit the race if he has nothing more to tell Nigerians.”
Akeredolu urges Christians to vote APC
Akeredolu urged Christians to support the push for a Southern president.
Its Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, in a statement in Akure, said the governor spoke at the 40th Holy Ghost Convention Dinner of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries held in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
The governor said North should not retain power after spending eight years in office.
He said: “I discussed with Bishop Francis Wale Oke that presidency must come to the South. Take it or leave it, it is the minimum we can get. It must come to the South. The North cannot produce President for eight years and still want to retain it for another eight years. It is not going to work.
“That is why under the Southern Governors’ Forum, where, luckily, God made me the chairman, we kept harmering on that. It must come to the South. And when it also got to our party in APC, we fought that it must come to the South.
“Luckily, it did not only come to South, it came to the Southwest. Now, where do we stand? I understand our feelings because I’m one of you. I am a Christian. All of us here are worried. What will be our gain, and that, why is my party, the APC throwing up a Muslim/Muslim ticket.
“It has been a real issue for all us. Even members of the party, it has been an issue for us. We have debated it, fought it and we have done so many things on it. I have always said to people, my fight was for Southern President.
“Now it has come to the Southwest, will I now throw the baby away with the bathwater? Can I, in all honesty, do it? Should I, in all honesty, do it?
“We call it a matter of coincidence. It is a matter of conscience. All of us are here, why don’t we look at it from one angle. The buck stops on the table of the President. Do we have a capable hand who can manage the affairs if given the opportunity? Do you have a man who is bold enough to challenge incursion into our land? That is it.
“All of us here have lived together for years and we didn’t allow religion to bring fight among us. We have Muslims in our families and there is no fight. We have many leaders in Yoruba land who have both Muslims and Christians in their families and there is no fight.
“So, we want to appeal to our people that this is our time. I want to appeal to all our senior Pastors and General Overseers to help talk to their followers. We politicians can only do little. This is our time.”
President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said God has been merciful to him in the journey so far. Continue Reading
