Lawan has come under attack after the Bashir Machina Campaign Council condemned the alleged derogatory utterances made by his supporters against the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The condemnation was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity, BSM Campaign Council, Husaini Isa, on Wednesday.
Isa claimed that the anti-party utterances were made by Lawan’s supporters at the rally held in Nguru town based on video evidence circulated on social media in which they openly endorsed the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his party.
In a reaction on Thursday, the spokesman for Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, dismissed the report, saying Lawan is a trusted party member.
Keyamo also expressed doubt that Machina supporters would stoop low to accuse the Senate president of working against his party.
He said, “Lawan has always been in opposition to the PDP since 1999. So anybody waking over night to say that Lawan and his supporters are working for the PDP should examine himself.
“He is someone who has a large heart. I don’t think Machina or his camp can do that to him as speculated. It is a united family we have in the APC. The people peddling this rumour are in the PDP. They are fond of always peddling conspiracy theory.
“The only hope of the PDP winning the 2023 election is to say that people are working against the APC. It is all lies, blatant ones. The party is comfortable with Lawan.”
The Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, also corroborated the position of the PCC spokesman.
A worried Ibrahim expressed reservation that some people are obviously working ‘assiduously’ to create friction within the party.
“These people, having lost and know they don’t stand any chance of winning, go into their tents and continue to fabricate stories that cannot be taken by a reasonable mind.
“Lawan has said times without number that after his loss to Tinubu, he is solidly committed to support him. He will campaign and see to the success of the campaign. He has not disowned members of the party nor has he derailed from his ambition of seeing to the success of the party.
“Whoever is peddling this is using a fabrication of his own imagination. They are doing so just to spite the party. These same people have said same thing about the president being reluctant in campaigning for the APC presidential campaign. By so doing, President Buhari was forced to come out to say he is going to campaign with so much vigour and energy.
“These rumour mongers also alleged in the past that there was a friction between the national chairman and the presidential candidate simply because of the way the candidate emerge. What more do they need to be convinced about the unity in the party?”
According to the APC publicity director, Lawan as a lawmaker and Senate president would be the last person to do things that will be inimical to the interest of the party.
He also believed that the Yobe politician won’t allow his loss to Machina to undermine the chances of the party at the 2023 election.
