Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president in the 2023 election, has been reminded by the President that it is time to give up on his dream of becoming president.
“Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, unraveled on Monday at a press conference in Abuja where he finally found his voice after more than 96 hours to respond to his trouncing at the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment on his grossly incompetent election petition appeal,” said a press statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Advisor to the President on Information & Strategy.
“We were mistaken to believe that Atiku, at seventy-seven, would play the role of statesman and athlete and accept the ruling of Nigeria’s highest court and the people with composure.”Rather, he shamelessly positioned himself as a demagogue and anarchist by attempting to overthrow and undermine all governmental institutions in an attempt to obtain what he was unable to obtain by voting.
“At his press conference, Alhaji Atiku labored in vain to once again sway public opinion and blame the judiciary for his self-inflicted defeat in the presidential election on February 25. He launched a tirade against the judiciary, especially our highest court, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not bending the law and the constitution to suit his whims and caprices.
Atiku put a lot of effort into perfecting his deceptive act by claiming to uphold higher moral standards and ideals while, in reality, his entire life is in opposition to these.
For example, Atiku claimed to have collaborated with others to bring an end to military rule in Nigeria, despite being in close contact with the same junta that was stifling democracy and imprisoning his mentor, Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (rtd), until his death. While in captivity, he distanced himself from him in order to maintain his gubernatorial aspirations on the platform of one of the disgraceful political groups associated with Abacha.
“Atiku’s style of politics requires that democracy be threatened because it becomes dysfunctional if an election or electoral process does not go his way or clear the path for his win. Democracy should, in his opinion, either go his way or the highway.
The PDP candidate’s language choices and opinions about Nigeria were callous and abrasive. We can only speculate as to the degree of annoyance that could lead a former vice president of Nigeria—who had held the second-highest position in the country—to have such a negative outlook on it. The PDP candidate claimed that just because he was unable to fulfill his personal goal, Nigeria is doomed.
Read Also: CSOs urge Tinubu to withdraw Umoren’s appointment as INEC REC
“We have something to tell Alhaji Atiku: Nigeria is not going to end. The only thing fatal about Atiku is his excessive drive to become president. Under the direction of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria is making progress and is poised to fulfill its destiny of becoming one of the most renowned and prosperous countries in the world.
“We are happy to inform the world that our democracy is thriving and flowering, in contrast to Atiku’s depressing comment on our democracy. It is the reason that, unlike in the past when just two parties dominated the national parliament, the character and outlook of our National Assembly since 1999 reflect the diversity and plurality of the choices and preferences of voters as a rainbow coalition of different parties.
“Votes matter in Nigeria now. No amount of purposeful falsification of information on our most recent election by Alhaji Atiku and his associate Peter Obi can undermine the ongoing enhancements to our electoral system that both domestic and foreign observers have praised. The Supreme Court stated that IReV was not intended to be an online collection hub. It served just as a public viewing area for the results.
“The PDP, Atiku, and Peter Obi’s wing of the Labour Party cannot keep imposing their own reality over reason, common sense, and the law.
It was clear to Atiku and his horde of hired guns why they had lost the election. Because Nigerians favored and supported Bola Ahmed Tinubu for president, the PDP candidate lost. Tinubu’s APC triumphed because he presented a more promising future for our nation. With its rank and file intact, the All Progressives Congress ran a well-coordinated campaign as a cohesive and powerful party.
“Atiku lost because he entered a significant election with a broken and frayed umbrella that was unable to stay together. With the party platform he ran on divided into four halves, Atiku and the PDP could not have won the election. We wonder how Atiku could have imagined a winning path in the face of the Labour Party of Mr. Peter Obi, the NNPP of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and the PDP G-5 Governors who snatched away potential PDP votes. In contrast, the APC entered the election as a powerful, cohesive, and united force.
