PDP Apologises to Nigerians, International Community over Tinubu’s Chatham House Outing

•Advises ex-Lagos governor to address allegations, stop diversionary tactics

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation apologised to Nigerians and the international community for what it described as “the shame and embarrassing” outing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, recently, at Chatham House, London.

The Atiku/Okowa campaign berated the Tinubu/Shettima campaign organisation for resorting to diversionary tactics of attacking and bullying the media rather than explaining the allegations around the APC candidate’s alleged shady past.

One of the spokesmen of the PDP campaign, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, who rendered the apology at a news conference in Asaba, yesterday, said the apology had become necessary following the ignoble and mendacious show of shame put up by Tinubu and his handlers at a global stage like Chatham House.

Aniagwu said Tinubu, by his action, had denigrated the office of the president that he sought to occupy and had brought immeasurable shame on Nigerians.

According to Aniagwu, “As a party and as a Presidential Campaign Organisation, I want to, on behalf of my principal, Atiku Abubakar, apologise to the international community that, that kind of disgrace is not who we are in Nigeria.

“For us, in PDP, as a political party, beyond the fact that we have continued to engage with different stakeholders and Nigerians across all walks of life, our presidential candidate and his running mate are still very much ever ready to interface with Nigerians wherever they are in terms of their geographical location, or the ethnic group they belong or the class that they find themselves that we will continue to do so.

“In line with our party motto, we are quite convinced that power belongs to the people and that they represent the sovereign and as such, we will not take for granted the rights of Nigerians to scrutinise our candidate, the rights of Nigerians to continue to ask questions as to what we are putting on the table.

“Beyond the fact that our candidate has come up with his policy document, titled, ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’, it is a covenant with Nigerians, which embodies policy priorities that the Atiku-Okowa government will deploy for the purpose of adding value to the lives of Nigerians.”

Aniagwu, who is also Delta State Commissioner for Information, said Atiku and his running mate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, would continue to seek ways for additional input from Nigerians for the purpose of enriching the discourse, and “our desire to have a country that works and works for all of us”.

The PDP presidential campaign spokesperson stated further, “I am happy that you have continued to monitor developments in our country. Yesterday, we were in Lafia and today our presidential train is in Jos, where and where has the APC been to apart from the disgrace that was visited on all of us at Chatham House?

“We needed to render this apology so that our children will not go for an international examination and think that it is the right thing to do to distribute examination questions for others to answer for them.

“Nigerians at any given time can stand their ground on any issue, so we are making this apology on behalf of the APC since they have not appreciated the shame they have brought to our wonderful country.”

In another statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, also a spokesperson of the Atiku/Okowa campaign, PDP party demanded that Tinubu and his bully handlers should face his self-inflicted woes instead of attempting to play the victim just to divert public attention from his very unpleasant past.

Ologbondiyan said it was reprehensible and unmistakable sign of culpability that Tinubu and his campaigners had desperately resorted to bullying, intimidating and harassing media houses and journalists with a view to silencing and stopping them from questioning Tinubu on allegations of perjury, forgery, corruption, massive treasury-looting and reported link to narcotics for which he forfeited a whooping $460,000 through the order of a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States.

Ologbondiyan stated, “We, therefore, consider this diversionary approach by  the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign as very unwholesome and unacceptable assault on the very bedrock of democracy, which is the right of the people to know, through a free press.

“Asiwaju Tinubu must understand that having brought himself out to contest for the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he must prepare to explain himself to the littlest of Nigerians, as well as the media, which has the basic constitutional responsibility to seek information on behalf of every Nigerian.

“It is, therefore, to say the least, irresponsible, thoughtless and incautious that the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign will abandon its responsibility of assisting its candidate to offer explanation, if he has any.”

Ologbondiyan advised APC to address the allegations, “rather than attacking media houses and demanding the sack of media practitioners for performing their professional and constitutional duties.”

According to Ologbondiyan, the action of the TInubu/Shettima Campaign Organisation further confirms that Asiwaju Tinubu lacks democratic credentials and has no business contesting for the office of the president of a country, like Nigeria, where citizens are resolute in their demand for a credible and acceptable leader, who has no skeleton of narcotics hidden in his cupboard.

“Indeed, Asiwaju Tinubu has shown that he does not possess the qualities of the leader Nigerians are yearning for at this critical time of our history. Our campaign urges Asiwaju Tinubu to note that his diversionary tactic and attack on the media will not stop Nigerians from raising the necessary posers.”