The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the PDP as a Janus-faced bumbling party for engaging in a serial mudslinging against the party (APC) and its leaders, especially in the aftermath of its hugely successful national convention in which Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was elected as the APC’s presidential candidate.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the same PDP that has been preaching issues-based electioneering campaign has done nothing but mudslinging against the person of Gen. Buhari, his running mate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, our leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu and indeed the entire APC.
It said the spokespersons for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, apparently stung into a stupor by the rancour-free emergence of the party’s candidates for the 2015 general elections and the overwhelmingly positive reactions from Nigerians, have thrown caution and decency to the wind by their crude, rude and rambling statements.
”What is issues-based in calling Gen. Buhari a ‘semi-literate jackboot’ as the PDP’s National Secretary Wale Oladipo has incautiously said? Where are the issues in the pejorative reference to Prof. Osinbajo as an ‘acolyte’ of Tinubu, or in describing Tinubu himself as a puppeteer, as the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh has said in the most vitriolic and irresponsible statement that can ever be issued by the spokesman of a ruling party anywhere?
”Where are the issues contained in the statement by the serial bumbler and gormandizer called Doyin Okupe, who regards Gen. Buhari’s refusal to enrich himself from the public till as a vice rather than a virtue? Why would a ruling party go after the jugular of the opposition simply because it took its time in choosing its presidential running mate, especially since it did not run foul of any electoral law in doing so?
”The truth is that the Jonathan Presidency and the PDP have no issues to canvass during the electioneering campaign for the 2015 general elections because they have wasted the mandate given to them by Nigerians on the altar of unprecedented corruption, incomprehensible incompetence and cluelessness and perhaps the worst leadership ever inflicted on our country,” APC said.
The party expressed delight that Nigerians have taken it upon themselves to respond to the PDP and its barbarians, especially in the social media.
”Had these philistines been monitoring the reactions of Nigerians to the capricious comments they have been making against the person of Gen. Buhari and his party, they would have desisted. But then, they need to impress their paymasters. It seems the more they pour invective on our leaders and our party, the bigger their pay. We wish them luck in their ludicrous pursuit and shadow chasing,” it said.
APC assured Nigerians that its campaign for next year’s elections would be based on how the party plans to restore hope to the forlorn citizens, who have been taken for a ride by the government they voted into power, how Nigeria can be made great again and how the comatose economy can be resuscitated, for the benefit of all, rather than a few fat cats.
”We are delighted at the increasing level of political awareness among Nigerians and their engagement in the political scene. We believe Nigerians are more interested in what the candidates for next year’s elections can offer rather than on how much mudslinging they can dish out. In the end, Nigerians, who are the real masters, will spot the difference!” the party said.
But PDP in a statement titled : “APC Is The One Reneging On Commitment To Issues-Based Campaign said it remains on the moral high ground compared to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as far as its commitment to issues-based campaigns is concerned.
In a swift riposte on Tuesday, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, dismissed the claim by the APC that the description of its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari as “semi-literate jackboot” by the PDP National Secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo, amounted to reneging on the commitment.
According to Metuh, “In the PDP, we occupy the moral high ground as far as our commitment to issues-based campaign is concerned. Our word remains our bond. Since, we made that commitment, we have focused on issues.
“We have also taken up the responsibility of drawing the attention of Nigerians to the obvious cases of incompetence and failings of the APC and those who aspire to the leadership of our nation through that platform.
“There has never been any instance that we have maliciously attacked the characters of those on the presidential ticket of the APC; rather, we have been alive to our responsibility of offering public service so that Nigerians will not be deceived.
“The particular statement by Professor Oladipo, referred to by the APC, which we even consider as complimentary, does not in any way compare with the many instances of vicious, malicious and provocative attacks on the person and office of our presidential candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, after we made the commitment to engage in a decent campaign.
“It is on record that a few days after the commitment alluded to by the APC, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso, attacked the person of President Jonathan, describing him as an ‘incompetent commander-in-chief.’ No personal attack could be more vicious and unconscionable.
“Similarly, the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has consistently prosecuted a hate campaign against President Jonathan, describing him as ‘an enemy of Rivers people.’ I ask the APC and my friend, Lai Mohammed, if this destructive campaign sounds like a love song to him?
Also, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, at the church event to mark the 60th birthday of APC Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Segun Oni, in Ifaki-Ekiti, attacked the person of President Jonathan describing him as ‘a misfit’ for the presidency of the nation.
“Even my friend Lai Mohammed is not blameless. For him to declare to the world that President Jonathan was responsible for the killings of Nigerians by Boko Haram insurgents, when he knows those whose utterances and clandestine activities fuel the insurgency, smacks of political mischief.
“To worsen the entire matter, the APC presidential candidate himself, General Muhammadu Buhari, is complicit in the propagation of personal attack over and above issues. It was insulting for Buhari to say, as he did in Sokoto last Sunday, that ‘no right-thinking Nigerian will vote for Jonathan.’ Is this the APC’s understanding of an issues-based campaign.
“It is important to point out that President Jonathan has never, ever, whether before or after he became the candidate of our party, attacked the character or person of General Buhari. In his declaration speech and acceptance speech after he was nominated as presidential candidate of our party, there was nowhere in the speeches or speeches made on subsequent occasions in which he attacked the person of Buhari.
“We would like to state that, in furtherance of their deliberate and calculated attacks on President Jonathan, the APC has been using fronts and sponsored agents in the media and social media to make caricatures of President Jonathan.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we want to assure the APC that we remain committed to issues-based campaign as this will give us a clear head-start over them. We will campaign on our record of verifiable achievements; we will campaign on the fact that Nigeria can never go back to the past; we will campaign on issues and ideas built around our continuing agenda to transform our nation going into the future.
“Nevertheless, we are fully prepared, ready, willing and able to defend all personal attacks on the President and the leadership of our great party.
