…Chides Atiku for tarnishing Nigeria’s image
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
An Igbo All Progressives Congress (APC) group under the auspices of Omalegwuoku Progressive Initiative/Igbo Kwenu for Asiwaju/Shettima has urged the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to stop overheating the polity with his public comments on President Bola Tinubu.
The group’s Global President, Amb Mrs Ginika F Tor, made the appeal at a press conference on current development in the polity in Abuja on Wednesday, while reacting to Obi’s comment on Tinubu.
While admitting that Peter Obi is a presidential material, she however warned him to be cautious so that his utterances will not constitute a stumbling block for him in the future.
Her words: “I had already put up my speech before I realised that my own brother that I respect so much, Peter Obi, who is also the presidential candidate of LP, said that our president, number one man in this country, should come out and explain his state.
“So, you don’t know the state of a man who served eight years as a governor? And you said he should tell us his background educationally, is that right? It is an insult to Nigeria as a nation to call out our president who was massively supported, elected, confirmed and validated as the President of Nigeria to come and stand before who to say he is from this state, from this region, from this locality? Does he owe us that? What the President owe us now is to take us to our destination of choice.
“I am disappointed in a man that I respected so much, my brother, who stood in front to run for Igbos. It may not be his turn now, but it could come in future. But whatever he does now is going to play out in the future. So let us be cautious and let all Igbos not be misled by this press interview that our own brother granted.
“We are telling our brother, Obi to calm down. If God wanted him to be there, He would have made him the President. He did not. There is a lot of distraction on President Tinubu,” he lamented.
Reading from his prepared speech, Ginika chided the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar for distracting President Tinubu.
She accused the former vice president of still suffering from a severe post-election loss trauma and a near-presidency syndrome.
“From day one, President Tinubu hit the ground running and is focused on laying the foundation and the structures necessary to deliver on his Renewed Hope agenda which he promised Nigerians during the electioneering process.
“However, as the weeks went by, it became obvious that so many issues started coming out which may constitute a huge distraction on the new administration to deliver a desired nation for all Nigerians especially the PDP presidential candidate Atiku who appear to still suffering from a severe post-election loss trauma and a near-presidency syndrome following his defeat at the polls on his fifth presidential contest.
“He suddenly realised that his dream of being president of this country which seemed so close in 2003 was again a mirage in 2023. His post-election trauma ballooned following the unsuccessful prosecution of his brief by his legal team at the PEPT, filed a petition lacking in substance and direction.
“Like someone who woke up from a terrible nightmare, Atiku commissioned a fishing expedition to Chicago State University on a wild goose chase for President Tinubu’s certificate.
“They started by saying President Tinubu did not attend CSU and when CSU confirmed repeatedly that President Tinubu was their student and graduated with honours in 1979, they changed lane and started accusing President Tinubu of submitting a fake certificate to INEC in 2022.
“Atiku’s inordinate quest to malign the integrity of Mr. President also amounts to destroying or tarnishing the image of Nigeria before the international community all in a bid to perpetuate a lie and make people believe that President Tinubu submitted forged certificate to INEC.
“We wish to state that this matter is in court, we chose to refrained from making comments on it but wish to unequivocally debunk the lies being towed by such an elder Statesman who should place patriotism and national interest above his personal ambition to be the number one man in Nigeria,” the group noted.
