•Insists Feb 25 presidential election date sacrosanct
•We’ll return peace to Yobe, reopen your schools, Atiku promises
•Our party’ll bring back Nigeria’s glorious days, says Okowa
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation, yesterday, warned the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to perish the contemplations or discussions of setting up an Interim National Government, saying such did not have any place whatsoever in the 1999 Constitution of the country as amended.
One of the spokespersons of the campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement said the warning became imperative following reports of sinister plots by the APC Campaign to create situations and narratives to justify its reported demands for the postponement of the 2023 general election, insisting however that the February 25th date of the presidential poll remained sacrosanct.
Also, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, promised to return peace to Yobe State as well as reopen their schools, while running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, assured the people that the main opposition party would bring back the nation’s glorious days if voted into power.
Addressing the purported moves to instigate an interim government, Ologbondiyan said the reported moves by the APC campaign was not only cowardly but also confirmed that the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, was intimidated by Atiku’s overwhelming popularity, and as such, sought to scuttle the election.
“Our Campaign also advises the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign to immediately perish its narratives or demands for the postponement of the 2023 general elections, as the February 25, 2023 presidential election date must be sacrosanct given that Nigerians are ready to go to the polls, where they will elect Atiku Abubakar as the next president of our country.
“Our Campaign has also received intelligence of a very dangerous plot by the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign to continue to orchestrate unrest across the country aimed at truncating the electoral process, triggering a constitutional crisis and foisting an undemocratic situation of Interim National Government on our country, having realised that it has no chance in the election.
“It is indeed pathetic that Tinubu, who ought to know that the 1999 Constitution, from which our democracy derives its existence, is the one reported to be pushing for a situation of an Interim National Government (ING), just because it is clear to him that he cannot win the February 25, 2023 presidential election,” Ologbondiyan said.
The PDP campaign said the public could further comprehend the full import of Tinubu’s directive to his followers in London, when he declared that, “Political power is not going to be served in a restaurant, it is not served a la carte. It is what we are doing; it is being determined; you do it at all cost; fight for it, grab it, snatch it and run with it.”
Ologbondiyan added that such inciting comments were at the root of the violent attacks on innocent Nigerians as well as facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by APC thugs in various parts of the country.
According to him, Tinubu must come to the realisation that his reliance on financial inducements alone could not save him as there was no way Nigerians would elect any individual, who had shown manifest incapacities to serve as the president of the nation.
With the PDP campaign allegedly standing with Nigerians, he therefore called on INEC to insulate itself from the shenanigans of the APC campaign and focus on its mandate to deliver a free, fair and credible presidential election on February 25, 2023.
While noting that, part of the plot was the reported interception, mopping up and hoarding of new naira notes by the APC Campaign for the purpose of vote buying, leading to the biting scarcity of new naira notes and consequential suffering and hardship across the country, heurged Tinubu to face the reality of his looming defeat and stop the shenanigans of seeking to introduce dangerous forms of contraption into our polity.
In a related development, Okowa, yesterday, in Yobe State at the PDP presidential rally, acknowledged that the party had never won election in Yobe, and urged the people that with the introduction of Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), the days of election results manipulation were over.
“You have made a statement today that you are ready to reclaim the future of Nigeria, the Nigeria that we dream about, not the Nigeria that we go to bed hungry, not the Nigeria where everyone is suffering and there is no employment for our youths, that is not the Nigeria of our dream,” he said.
The Delta State governor reiterated that, of all the presidential candidates contesting, the only person that stood out was Atiku and stressed that the former vice-president had the right experience and was well educated.
His words: “I know that in Yobe State, we have not won an election here but they have always stolen our result. This time around, I urge you, when you cast your vote, ensure you stay put with them because this time, it is one man, one vote.
“They are going to use the BVAS, so they cannot write results anymore. So, you must be there and ensure that you escort the result to the ward Collation Center. I know with what I have seen here today, we are going to win the elections on February 25, which is just two weeks and two days from today.
“Your vote will determine your future, your vote will determine the future of Nigeria, so you cannot play with it. Make sure that you come out to vote and we can together, secure a new future for our children, where our children will have gainful employment, and our children can be sure that there is a future for them. I know that our parents will be happy when Atiku becomes the president of this country, because he knows what to do.”
Okowa, however, stressed that with Atiku as president, the insecurity being experienced by the country would be no more.
On his part, Atiku said contrary to insinuation that there was no PDP in the state, the mammoth crowd that came showed that the party was on a strong footing in the state.
He said, “Do you want peace to return to Yobe? We promise you, if you vote for PDP, peace will return to Yobe. We will make sure that our schools are reopened, so that our children will continue to go to school.
“We also promised to empower our young men and women, by giving them capital, so that they can set up their own businesses; so that they can also live a successful life. If you want that, vote for PDP. We promised to reopen the borders so that businesses between us and our neigbours can flourish very well.”
PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, assured the people that, Atiku would rescue the country from the bad governance of APC.
“Sometime back, some people came here to lie to you that they will bring change, have you not seen the change? Do you like the kind of change you witnessed? They made you go hungry, they gave you insecurity, and other things that you don’t like, vote for Atiku Abubakar, he will recover Nigeria.
“They are fighting within them, pointing fingers on each other, between those close to the Villa and other members of the other party. On the Naira swap, it is not all of them that agree to that. Even those that agree, hoarded the Naira for vote-buying, that is why you are suffering, don’t agree. Let Buhari direct the security to retrieve the money they hid. I came here without a Naira in my pocket.
“Therefore, we have brought the one that will rescue this country. Since this APC government came, have they repaired the roads and schools? There is only unemployment and insecurity. Now, we decampees from the APC to PDP, the APC Chairman, Ahmed Gombe alongside other 260 groups, we know that nothing will make us not to win election in Yobe State, except you did not go out to vote and when you didn’t go out, nobody will write lies.”
