The All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council has denounced speculations about the health status of its candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, declaring that he is fit and not withdrawing from the 2023 presidential race.
It particularly took a swipe at the Labour Party LP Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi and his supporters for sponsoring a series of misinformation against Tinubu.
The council said Obi is already planning to launch a fake assassination attempt on his life with his own supporters dressed in APC attires.
Director, Media and Public Affairs and Official Spokesperson of the Council, Festus Keyamo SAN in a statement on Monday in Abuja also accused Obi of making and circulating “an offensive, hate-filled video” in which he accused an amorphous and non-existent “Tinubu’s Group” of spreading a Whatsapp message calling on the Yoruba not to vote for him.
In a terse reaction, Obi’s spokesman, Mr Emeka Obasi said the LP Presidential Candidate does not fake things.
“Peter Obi is not known for faking things unlike Keyamo’s principal”, Obasi stated.
Keyamo who is also the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, said the same way the “Dubai strategy” employee by Mr Obi’s “boss” failed in 2019, the LP candidate “US Strategy” will also fail in 2023.
On Tinubu’s health, the council said; “We also wish to use this medium to debunk the false and misleading posts on various social media handles of supporters of Mr Peter Obi that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is withdrawing from the race on health grounds.
“This is nothing but a figment of their warped imaginations. Our candidate is strong, healthy and fit enough for the coming campaigns. The opposition will hear loud and clear from him soon”.
“Hate video”
Keyamo noted that the purported message, according to Mr. Obi, forewarned the Yoruba that a vote for Peter Obi would be a vote for a seaport in South/South and South/East.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this is a transcript of the so-called message as relayed by Mr Peter Obi:
‘Yoruba shine your eyes o, if you vote for Peter Obi, it is automatically voting for seaports in South-South and South East. The Igbos will stop coming to Lagos State to invest, rather they will go to Delta and Rivers States, they may even stop building houses in Lagos. It will affect a lot of Yorubas. Yoruba ro nu o.’
“Firstly, we vehemently deny the existence of any of such “Tinubu group” that made and circulated such a message. All groups supporting the APC Presidential Candidate and his running-mate have clear designations with well-known promoters. In addition, it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorized and for which we take responsibility”, he stated.
The council challenged Mr Obi to reveal the sources and name(s) behind the Whatsapp message.
It said it was obvious that Mr Obi deliberately concocted the message and circulated the offensive video himself as a campaign strategy in order to come across as a victim of some kind of ethnic agenda, “whereas in truth, he is the real agent provocateur of an ethnic agenda”.
“As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr. Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a Governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate”, the APC presidential campaign council stated.
US Strategy
“We have in on good authority that part of the ‘US Strategy’ (just like the failed ‘Dubai Strategy’ his former boss and himself adopted in 2019) was to return to the country and spread ethnic hatred amongst the voters and cause chaos, then pose as the victim. They have just kick-started that plot by orchestrating and circulating the said video.
“We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a Presidential Candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our faultlines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions. This is completely unbecoming of a Presidential Candidate that hopes to unite this country. Again, we note that Mr Obi’s latest stunt is consistent with what is now widely perceived as his adoption of hate as a campaign strategy, having consistently failed to rein in his known and identifiable supporters, mostly domiciled on social media, threatening political opponents with violence and death.
“Moreover, here is a man known as a sectional irredentist, with public records showing him expelling Nigerians from a section of the country from Anambra State while he was Governor and has decidedly resorted to the ethnoreligious card in his activities and messaging thus far, now accusing his better off being an ethnic champion. What a supreme irony!”
Fake assassination
The council also alleged that Obi plans to fake an assassination attempt on his life by hiring and dressing his own supporters to attack some LP offices.
“We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the “US Plan”. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn these tactless tactics and cheap manoeuver by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up the undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan.
“Our advice to Mr Peter Obi is to quit the race if he has nothing more to tell Nigerians”, APC stated.
