Stop deceiving Nigerians, Atiku tells PDP

Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government against the dangerous tactics of polarising the country along fault lines as a means of diverting the attention of Nigerians from its inept and apathetic posture to corruption and insecurity.

Reacting to a report in a weekly paper which alleges that a former Russian spy had linked the All Progressives Congress to terrorists and extremists, the former Vice President said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday that these sponsored allegations by the PDP administration would not help the country.

He said no responsible government should seek to create division, suspicion and animosity among its citizens by linking the opposition leaders with terrorist activities or accusing them of harbouring extremists.

According to Atiku, the PDP has officially and publicly, through its National Publicity Secretary, labelled APC the “Islamic Brotherhood Party of Nigeria” and the “Janjaweed Party.”

These nomenclatures, he said, were borrowed from abroad and did not, in any way or form, existed in Nigeria.

He said the latest publication about a so-called former Russian spy was a continuation of the PDP campaign of calumny against the opposition party and its leaders in order to divert attention from the epic failures of the ruling party to deliver the goods.

The former Vice President noted with concern the tactics of the PDP administration to drive a wedge between the people by using a religious divide-and-rule strategy to get a re-election in 2015.

Atiku restated that the greatest challenges facing Nigeria were insecurity, joblessness, hopelessness, hunger, unemployment, disease and fear of the future and poverty.

“The APC is a party for all Nigerians, irrespective of their religious, ethnic or regional identities. Let no one get confused.

“The APC is the party to stop the looting of the treasury. We will thoroughly investigate and uncover the alleged missing $50bn stolen from the sale of crude oil.

“We are going to stop the government-backed theft of crude oil, which swings between the daily averages of 100,000 to 300,000 barrels a day. The APC is the party to create jobs and end joblessness.”

He explained that these problems affect all ordinary Nigerians, regardless of their religion or ethnicity or section of the country they come from.

The former Vice President maintained that the PDP tactics of divide and rule was a reflection of desperation because the citizens were openly clamouring for change.

Dismissing allegations of harbouring extremists by the opposition as utter rubbish and sheer fabrication, the former vice president said the PDP administration should attend to serious national problems crying for attention.