Politics

PDP to Tinubu: 5m APC members’ve defected to our party

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has berated the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, over his remarks on the opposition party and its candidate, presidential standard-bearer, Atiku Abubakar.

Tinubu had said the APC has no worries about the PDP or engaging it in a war of words ahead of the 2023 general election.

The APC presidential candidate said the ruling party, a “party of thinkers and doers”, needed no such engagement with the opposition party still struggling with its leadership, adding that defeat awaits Atiku in 2023.

However, the PDP, in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said such fixation on the PDP only “exposes Asiwaju Tinubu as a paper candidate who is confused, nervy and intimidated” by Atiku and the achievements of the PDP ahead of the 2023 general election.

The opposition added: “Unlike the APC that is dead, the PDP is not only alive and existing as acknowledged by Asiwaju Tinubu in his statement, but also strong, united, and focused on its mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the misrule of the APC.

“It is distressing that Asiwaju Tinubu speaks like someone under the influence with incoherent discourse and absence of mind that further expose a lack of capacity for leadership, especially at the presidential level.

“It is rather shameful that the APC presidential candidate alluded to the nation’s railway system which was revitalised by the PDP administration but painfully surrendered to terrorists and bandits by the APC government.

“From his incoherent discourse, the APC presidential candidate appears to be battling with issues of ethical challenges and ineligibility to contest election on account of inconsistencies in his educational qualifications, name, ancestry, age, corruption allegations among myriads of issues.

“Moreover, Nigerians have realised the futility of Asiwaju’s non-existent and heavily concocted achievements, influence, leadership prowess, and skills.

“Nigerians gave Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu the benefit of the doubt but he failed them by engineering a deceitful government leading to the ugly indices of insecurity and bloodletting, economic hardship, unemployment, disunity, and low life expectancy imposed on our nation in the last seven years.

“He should know that Nigerians are aware that he is in the presidential race not to serve but to gain control of the nation’s treasury so as to expand his exploitative enterprise and economic empire beyond Lagos State.

“The APC presidential candidate has not responded to allegations that he is the promoter of the increase in VAT, electricity tariff, import duties, Stamp Duty, fuel price hike as well as other exploitative tolls by the APC Federal Government, from which he allegedly benefits through many stooges in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue generating agencies of government.

“Asiwaju is huge baggage to the APC. He should know that because of him there is a daily exodus of millions of APC members across the country into the PDP. In the last one month, over 5 million APC members have defected to the PDP. In the Lagos State axis, his supposed stronghold, close to one million APC members have decamped to the PDP since his emergence as APC presidential candidate.

“This is because Nigerians have recognised the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as the solution our nation needs at this moment while Asiwaju has been identified as ‘Another Problem Coming’ (APC),” the PDP stated.

The Star