Leon Usigbe – Abuja
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, says the All Progressive Party candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has told ten lies in a week during campaign.
According to a statement issued on Saturday by Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Tinubu’s campaign also plans to unleash at least 1,000 lies ahead of the Presidential election on February 25th.
The statement said that four of such lies were busted in Sokoto, where the APC claimed 11 commissioners and the deputy governor had decamped to the APC all in a bid to attract loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to its rally.
It added that the Minister of State posted the fake photo of the Sokoto rally for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa on social media was part of the grand plot to deceive Nigerians ahead of the polls.
The statement added: “Last week, while we were at the Atiku Abubakar Presidential rally in Kano State, we received hundreds of calls after the APC Presidential council released a fake letter showing that Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Manir Dan’Iya, had resigned from PDP. Unfortunately, many credible newspapers published it without confirmation, only for Dan’Iya to deny it.
“APC campaigners also stated that 11 commissioners had defected to the PDP. This also turned out to be false. The plan was to get PDP supporters to come to their failed rally. This also turned out to be false.
“The Sokoto rally was poorly attended despite the presence of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom Tinubu has been begging for assistance. To save face, Festus Keyamo, a senior advocate and former EFCC prosecutor, posted a photo of a crowded festival in Chicago and passed it off as the Sokoto rally. This is indeed shameful. How are the mighty fallen?
“It is also Keyamo, who boasts of being a prosecutor that has now been given the impossible task of explaining Tinubu’s drug case in the United States to Nigeria. Unfortunately for the APC, despite their many lies, the fact remains that Bola Tinubu forfeited $460,000 to US authorities from funds established to be from the proceeds of drug trafficking. It is also undeniable that Tinubu was an associate of two notorious drug kingpins, Abiodun Agbele and Muiz Akande.”
The statement observed that another member of the Tinubu campaign, Femi Fani-Kayode, who runs the social media arm of the APC campaign, had also been an active propagator of fake news.
According to the statement,
Fani-Kayode’s claim that Atiku met with serving generals in Abuja was another “tale by moonlight.”
The statement further said: “Atiku was in Bauchi on Wednesday, Kano on Thursday, and has been in Yola since Friday. It is a common principle in logic that a person cannot be in two places simultaneously. Unfortunately, the APC’s lies are bereft of any modicum of intelligence.”
It was also described as nonsensical claims by Tinubu’s campaign that Atiku was behind the petrol scarcity and the dollar shortage.
The statement posited: “Atiku left office in 2007, nearly 16 years ago. How could he be behind a government policy when he lacks executive powers? Even a toddler will not tell unreasonable lies like the APC.”
The statement was described, as asinine, claims by APC campaign spokesman Dele Alake that the videos depicting Tinubu speaking gibberish were doctored.
It also said: “During a town hall in Imo State last November, he described the town hall as being different from ‘Balabu, Blu blu, Bulaba.’ Reacting to the gaffe at the time, Festus Keyamo described it as Tinubu’s ‘sense of humour.’ Three months later, we were told by Mr. Alake that it was a doctored video. When will these disgusting lies end?
“We, however, commend the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and other credible organisations for immediately fact-checking Alake’s claim and exposing the lies.”
Atiku continued that as the elections draw closer, Tinubu and his party will continue to churn out more lies at an alarming rate of as high as 1,000 or 80 per day.
It, therefore, advised the Nigerian media to be circumspect so as not to be deceived by these lying desperados.
“We also call on members of the public to guard their hearts jealously. In these last days, the desperate albeit failing APC and its unscrupulous candidate will try everything possible to ‘lie’ their way to victory. Nigerians must not allow themselves to be conned by these corn lovers,” the PDP flag bearer added.
