Atiku berates Tinubu for hypocritical criticism of APC

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has berated the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, for his hypocritical attempts to extricate himself from the many failures of the ruling party.

Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said this in a statement, in Abuja, on Wednesday.

Shaibu said this while reacting to Tinubu’s latest attack against President Muhammadu Buhari at the APC Presidential Campaign rally held in Calabar, on Tuesday.

Atiku’s media aide had quoted Tinubu as saying during the rally in the Cross River State capital that, “Today, they moved the exchange rate from ₦200 to ₦800. If they had repaired it, if they had arrested this, we wouldn’t be where we are today, we would be greater. They don’t know the way, they don’t know how to think, they don’t know how to do it.”

A few days ago in Abeokuta, Atiku said that Tinubu had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of incompetence especially with regards the scarcity of the new naira notes and the petrol situation in the country.

However, Shaibu quoted Atiku as saying that Tinubu was not only a “pernicious and lubricious hypocrite” but also “a death-defying politician who is trying to be clever by half.”

He added that it is funny that Tinubu, who proudly held the position of national leader of the APC for the last eight years, could throw Buhari under the bus “in his failed and desperate quest for power.”

Shaibu recalled that Tinubu had before the election season even defended the exchange rate policy of the Buhari administration when a group of youths led by Moremi Ojudu led a protest to his Lagos home on February 9, 2017, when the dollar hit ₦500.

He said Ms Ojudu, the daughter of Babafemi Ojudu, a special adviser on political affairs to Buhari, had challenged Tinubu over the declining of the naira but Tinubu was seen on video telling protesting youths that, “I am not worried about the exchange rate because your salary should be in Naira and you are not an importer. Maybe that is even teaching us a lesson to be dependent on our domestic product.”

Atiku was also quoted as saying that “Tinubu has disingenuously been criticising President Buhari, trying to extricate himself from the failures of the APC which he had vigorously defended in the last eight years. Nigerians must not be deceived by this charlatan who is now posing to be on the side of the masses.

“Tinubu is the APC, mind, soul and body. He was the national leader of the party even before Buhari became the Presidential candidate. Is it possible for a snail to deny its own shell? Tinubu needs to give up this rascally act and take ownership of the failure of his party in the last eight years. His latest outburst is nothing but diversionary tactics,” he said.

Atiku described Tinubu as a deceitful politician who likes to throw his friends under the bus whenever there is a little challenge.

He said: “When some disgruntled APC leaders were against Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s ambition, Tinubu threw Ambode under the bus. He ensured Ambode never returned despite entreaties from President Buhari, Governor Atiku Bagudu and several others. Curiously, he is now taking credit for Ambode’s achievements including the transformation of the Oshodi district.

“This is the sort of person Tinubu is. He is a user who throws his friends under the bus when things get tough. Nigerians have been facing petrol scarcity for nearly a year. Why is Tinubu just speaking about it now that elections are a few days away?

“Why is Tinubu just attacking Buhari’s policies, many of which have been in place for years? In any case, the previous Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, said at the 65th Tinubu symposium on March 28, 2017 that it was Tinubu’s economic policy that the Buhari regime was using. So, why is Tinubu all of a sudden trying to distance himself from his own failed policy?

“As elections approach and the reality slowly dawns on Tinubu, he will increase his attacks against the President in order to distance himself from the failure that his party has become. Nigerians must not fall for this trick.

“Ahmad Lawan, whom Tinubu openly supported, is the current Senate President. His lackey and godson, Femi Gbajabiamila is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Both of them, who are proud rubber stamps, have been approving all of Buhari’s loans without question which further weakened the currency. Where was Tinubu when this was happening?

“Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was Tinubu’s commissioner for eight years and his proxy at the Presidential Villa, also headed Buhari’s economic team and chaired the National Economic Council by virtue of his position as Vice-President. Where was Tinubu when policies were being implemented? Why didn’t he speak up?

“Tinubu should focus on his failing campaign and stop trying to deceive Nigerians who are on the receiving end of his failed party’s misrule.”