THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has said its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, did not blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the ongoing controversies surrounding the redesign of the naira and fuel scarcity across the country.
Tinubu had while speaking at the APC presidential campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Wednesday, alleged that the redesign of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with Buhari’s approval, was a ploy to sabotage the 2023 general elections.
He also said that the ongoing fuel scarcity across the country was part of the plot to stop his supporters from voting.
READ ALSO:
Why Tinubu is unfit to be President – former APC-PCC member
Nigerians should look beyond Tinubu’s age, health — Shettima
Tinubu speaks on economic plans, says subsidy removal long overdue
The former Lagos state governor, however, expressed confidence that he would win the election, regardless of any efforts to disrupt the process.
Reacting to Tinubu’s comments, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Tinubu was using the problems as an excuse for his imminent defeat.
Phrank Shaibu, one of the media aides to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in a statement on Wednesday, said Tinubu was running from “pillar to post” despite claiming that he installed President Muhammadu Buhari in office.
“Frustrated by President Muhammadu Buhari’s unwillingness to attend some of his insipid rallies, Tinubu launched an attack against the president who doubles as the minister of petroleum,” he said.
“It is funny that Tinubu is just commenting over the fuel scarcity which started in different parts of the country as far back as February 2022. In Lagos, where Tinubu claims to be the landlord, the state has been witnessing fuel queues since last November.
“It is therefore dubious of Tinubu to try to extricate himself from the failures of his party because elections are 30 days away.
“Having seen his imminent defeat at the polls, he is already using the fuel scarcity and naira redesign as excuses.”
He called on Tinubu to throw in the towel or get ready to be disgraced on February 25.
But in a statement on Thursday, the APC chief presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the position of the PDP.
He said Tinubu out his care for the suffering Nigerians were going through due to crisis from the naira redesign and fuel scarcity, was only drawing Buhari’s attention to saboteurs “possibly working in cahoots with the PDP”.
“For a presidential candidate who cares about the suffering of our people, he has a duty to warn the government that its efforts to make life better for Nigerians are being sabotaged on several fronts,” Onanuga said.
He wondered how an advisory genuinely made by Tinubu to protect and create goodwill for the government of his party become an attack, adding that it can only be so in the “jaundiced view of the PDP.
“It is in this light we found amusing the directionless Atiku campaign’s bagful of mischief in their hurriedly put-together press statement meant to gain shameful mileage from the suffering of Nigerians.
“PDP and Atiku should remember not to get high on their own smoke. No political blackmail and an attempt to create a conflict between Tinubu and his long-term ally, President Muhammadu Buhari can succeed.”
He stated that the PDP and Atiku are trying to create a conflict between Tinubu and Buhari to gain mileage from the suffering of Nigerians by misinterpreting Tinubu’s comments.
“The Atiku rudderless campaign, always seeking cheap shots and easy ways has again woefully attempted to make a mountain out of a molehill from the comments made by Asiwaju Tinubu in Abeokuta.
“As a patriotic and compassionate leader, Asiwaju Tinubu will not stomach seeing ordinary Nigerians being made to face excessive difficulties over mundane issues due to activities of petrol and currency hoarders.”
You can reach out to me on Twitter via: vincent_ufuoma