Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the
reelection campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari, says Nigerians should be
worried about the credibility of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a statement on Sunday, Keyamo
said Abubakar did not win the election on a free and fair basis but induced the
delegates financially.
He urged Nigerians to be careful
in deciding who they want as president, saying the option is between a
candidate with a “history of credibility crisis” and the incumbent president
who is with an “unblemished record in public service.”
“We wish to congratulate His
Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on his emergence as the candidate of the PDP
in respect of the forth-coming 2019 Presidential Election,” the statement read.
“However, we note with interest
all the reports in the media as to massive vote-buying at the PDP primaries
(especially with foreign currency). We contrast this with the speech of
President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2014 APC Convention when he said as follows:
“I have always served Nigeria to
the best of my ability. I have always tried to give more to the nation than it
has given me. This is the principle of service that has guided my public life.
Thus, I am not a rich person. I can’t give you a fistful of dollars or naira to
purchase your support. Even if I could, I would not do so. The fate of this
nation is not up for sale.”
He recalled how Abubakar had also
been accused of vote-buying during the 2014 All Progressives Congress (APC)
convention, saying the PDP presidential aspirant never denied the reports.
“There were also media reports in
the 2014 APC National Convention that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar freely used the
same method of massive vote-buying in foreign currency, but he came a distant
third. Till date, he has not denied those media reports,” he said.
“The claim therefore that the
process that produce him now as a candidate of the PDP was free, fair and
transparent is suspect.
“It is therefore clear that going
into this election the issues that will agitate the minds of Nigerians most
would be centered around the credibility of the candidate of the opposition and
the kind of values he brings into our politics.
“Nigerians would ask themselves
whether he can be trusted with our national resources with this proclivity for
“dollarising” the political arena, thereby taking us back to the warped values
from which President Buhari is trying to extricate the nation. One wonders what
such a candidate would do with public funds.
“Nigerians would also note with
interest the verdict of Atiku’s former boss when he was Vice President on his
credibility and integrity, calling him unprintable names at different
occasions. Nigerians would note that in all of these occasions, Atiku Abubakar
had never defended these allegations against him by his former boss, but
continues to court his support and cooperation.
“Nigerians would want to know how
candidate Atiku Abubakar intends to inspire a nation to believe in his ability
to fight corruption in the face of very damning reports both locally and
internationally concerning his records on corruption whilst he was in public
service as a Customs Officer and later when he was Vice President of Nigeria.
“We note with amusement that on
many occasions Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has tried to claim some credit for certain
“achievements” during the tenure of President Obasanjo when he was Vice
President because, according to him, he was “part of that Government”. We also
wish to remind Nigerians that as much as he claims the credit, he must be
prepared to accept joint liability for all that happened in that Government. He
cannot blow hot and cold. In due time we shall talk about all these.”
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