Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Chuks Okocha

The war of words between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) continued Wednesday with the PDP asking the ACN to accept that its national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, lied over his invitation to the Democratic National Convention held in the United States of America last week.

The party urged the opposition party to “rise beyond roadside sophistry and accept that the party and Tinubu traded on fraudulent claims when they lied to Nigerians that he was sent a gold card invitation by the Democratic Party to attend its recent national convention.”

The PDP also advised the ACN to apologise to Nigerians for embarrassing the country and for bringing it to ridicule before a foreign political party.

“This matter in question explains itself in clear terms. The ACN tried to force its dish of lies down the throat of Nigerians on the imaginary international exposure and connection of its national leader. This attempt by the party to ingeniously tap from the credibility of an American political institution through a spurious claim has backfired.

“The Democratic Party Convention officials would have none of that and wasted no time in denying the ACN and Bola Tinubu. The implication of this on the image of Nigeria and on the pride of our good people is wantonly damaging.”

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said because the ACN thrives in fraud and its image managers artfully focused on deceit, they are blind to accurately interpret the diet of lies the party served the Nigerian public.

“The matter needs no further explanation if not for the ACN’s deliberate persistence on misinforming the nation. A statement from Tinubu’s office which the Publicity Secretary of the ACN repeated in his own statement stated that ‘Tinubu received a gold card which is prime... and ... was invited to the Democratic Convention as the leader of the opposition and an influential figure in Nigeria.”

“Verily, no matter how hard the party tries to water down this statement to suit a latter day whims, even a child understands that it means a special invitation and recognition. This is the falsehood that the ACN sold to the Nigerian public about its leader, which unfortunately backfired; thus, necessitating a denial.”

“However, this matter will become clearer if one ponders the following questions and their answers.

“Did Bola Tinubu receive an invitation or did he buy it at $5000? He bought it. Did the Democratic Party send him an invitation as the leader of the opposition in Nigeria? The answer is a resounding no as nothing to that effect exists in the records of the Democratic Convention.

“Was a gold card extended to him as claimed by the ACN? The answer again is no. Tinubu paid $5000 to get a generic invitation ordinarily given to all contributors to the campaign. It is this ordinary invitation that the merchants of lies in the ACN re-baptised as a gold card in their usual desperation to bolster the party’s status.”

According to the statement, the officials of the PDP since the return of democracy in 1999 have been attending the conventions of both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party but had never condescended to claiming an un-existing alliance or excited.

“What the ACN has done in respect of its fraudulent claims on the Democratic Convention and the manner the officials of the party off-headedly dismissed the ACN is a big embarrassment to Nigeria as a sovereign nation that has in quantum stock, eminent men and women who have distinguished themselves internationally. It is particularly sludge on the integrity of the Nigerian political class for which we advise the ACN to consider an apology for exposing the nation to an unnecessary shame.

“When the ACN spokesman attacked the PDP on the issues of integrity and relevance in his statement, he clearly forgot that such sensitive matters often revolt at the consistent knockings of history. Who should talk of integrity; the PDP, the ACN or its national leader? We leave Nigerians to judge.”
“Lest we forget however, the ACN is evangelising on integrity when the state of origin of its national leader is still shrouded in controversy and when his academic records to use the common Nigerian lingo is traceable to Toronto”, PDP said.