The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has been advised to apologize to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar since his recent diversionary tactics have allegedly failed to achieve the desired result.
The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization made the demand following the recent allegations by the Tinubu media group that the former vice president used Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to siphon public funds.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, also maintained that contrary to the claim by the Tinubu campaign, it is the APC flagbearer that should be disqualified from the presidential race on account of corruption.
Ologbondiyan said: “Now that Tinubu’s evil diversionary scheme against Atiku Abubakar has failed and Nigerians have seen that there is no iota of truth in his allegation against Atiku Abubakar, our Campaign demands that Tinubu should tender an unreserved apology to Atiku Abubakar, he should listen to the voice within and withdraw from the Presidential race.
“If anyone is to be arrested and disqualified from the presidential race on account of corruption, certainly, that person is not Atiku Abubakar but Bola Tinubu.
“Nevertheless, the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization assures Nigerians that we will not be distracted in this task of rescuing our nation from misrule but will continue to rally with Nigerians in our collective desire to restore our nation to the path of purposeful leadership and prosperity for all.”
Reading from a prepared text titled, “Tinubu is the Real Mr SPV and Nigerian Artful Dodger,” the campaign spokesperson, also alleged that the former Lagos governor, which he referred to as “embattled, discredited and degraded,” had been engaged in lies, falsehood and decoys.
He said: “Like the age-long aphorism states, those who dig pits for the innocent always fall into them. This is the case in the vexatious plots by Asiwaju Tinubu to divert attention from his litany of atrocities by seeking to impugn on the impeccable character of our Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, with unfounded controversy of corruption.”
He added: “Bola Tinubu, sensing that his many corrupt activities, especially his fleecing of Lagos State with many Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) companies was about to come to light, rushed to hire a serial blackmailer, as he has always done, to foul the public space with fabricated allegations against Atiku Abubakar.
“However, no matter how much falsehood appears to thrive, the truth will always prevail at the end of the day. Tinubu has not only failed in this mission to tarnish the clean image of Atiku Abubakar but in the process also exposed himself as the real Mr SPV.
“Furthermore, Nigerians are still awaiting the APC Presidential Candidate’s still has no explanation for his conviction and criminal forfeiture of $460,000 in a criminal case of trafficking in narcotic in the United States of America, for which under Section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), he is not eligible to contest election in Nigeria.
“Since Asiwaju Tinubu has on his own opened up on the allegations of corruption, our campaign is prepared to help him to fill the gaps he wants closed.
“In the days ahead, our campaign will not hesitate to furnish Nigerians with a compendium of corrupt practices as well as the list of SPVs used by the APC Candidate to loot public funds in key government agencies thereby depriving Nigerians the benefit of our national patrimony.”
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