The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday asked Nigerians not to allow the Peoples Democratic Party near the country’s resources again. He said the party mismanaged the opportunity it had when it was in charge of the country for 16 years.
The PDP Presidential Campaign Council in a swift response asked Tinubu to go and attend to his health first rather than attacking the party.
Tinubu, who spoke during a campaign rally at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, promised to bring to bear progressive governance in education, health care and employment generation if elected as the next president.
He took a swipe at the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, describing him as a veteran aspirant who should go home and rest.
He said, “Atiku contested in the Social Democratic Party, he contested in PDP; he contested in (the defunct) Action Congress of Nigeria when we rescued him from Obasanjo. Now he is contesting again in PDP. He should go home and rest.
“Atiku has been running. Use your PVC (permanent voter cards) to vote him and his party out. Use your votes to retire him permanently this time. We must never again allow the rapacious and visionless gang of Peoples Destroying People to come near our commonwealth. They were in government for 16 years, they didn’t remember Badagry Expressway, they didn’t remember East-West Road, and they didn’t remember the Second Niger Bridge.”
He thanked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for his commitment to the development of Nigeria and Lagos State.
He also asked Lagos residents to re-elect Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the governor of the state. “Dear Lagosians, my appeal to you today is to ask you to renew the mandate of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat for another four years. Do not let the execution and implementation of the bold vision of more than two decades be aborted or suspended.”
Those at the rally included the party’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, the party’s vice presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima, Chairman, Progressives Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu, the director-general of the campaign council and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong.
Also present were Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State; Aminu Masari of Katsina State; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State; AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State; Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State; the outgoing governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola; and former Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), and his counterpart in the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare, were also present.
PDP replies comment
Responding to the comments made by Tinubu, the spokesperson for the PDP campaign council, Dino Melaye, said Tinubu’s close associates should advise him rightly rather than urge him on.
He stated, “God, why are these people wicked to this man? He called PVC, APV and corrected himself by calling it APC. This is advanced dementia! Get well soon, Tinubu! If Tinubu were mentally and physically fit, l would have known what to say but with his pitiable condition, we can only pray for him to get well and say no to the desperate people pushing him to perdition.”
