Old age: Fake PDP attacks Buhari, real PDP is dismayed, APC fights back

It has been a very interesting 24 hours in the Nigerian political sphere with the age of President Muhammadu Buhari, giving life to series of discussions, attacks and political parties’ statements.

It was all fuelled by this statement- “I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do.”

The President was quoted to have said this while speaking with Nigerians resident in South Africa on Monday, June 15.

Immediately Nigerian media outfits reported the story, all hell went loose and everyone that had an opinion made sure to be heard.

A group known as PDP Media Watchdog released a statement through its spokesperson, Tunde Lawal, calling for the resignation of Buhari and going as far as labelling as incompetent, the man who is yet to spend a month as President.

The statement released said in part:

“Nigerians will recall that during the presidential campaigns, the PDP and other well meaning Nigerians complained on the choice of sponsoring Pa. Muhammadu Buhari as Presidential Candidate of APC and the effect it will have on the country when it comes to managing the affairs of a multi dimensional nation like Nigeria, but the APC and its leaders said that age is just a number.

It’s barely three weeks into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his age is already telling on him, so, what will happen to Nigeria in the remaining 1,440 days of this government. It’s better to find a black goat in the day time rather than looking for it in the night and this is why we are asking President Buhari to resign now because Nigerians will not entertain further excuses of why the APC cannot deliver on their campaign promises”..

Nigerians saw this all along during the campaigns but could not resist the broom stick voodoo that the APC used to hypnotize the people. Nigerians will also recall that this same Pa. Buhari could not remember the complete name of His Vice Presidential Candidate and even the full name of his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) under which platform he was contesting and instead referred to it as the All Progressive Confidence during the campaigns. How long will a nation like Nigeria, the giant of Africa remained under this hypnosis of the APC”.

Finally, the Watchdog urged the people of Nigeria to wake up to the challenge and resist this daylight robbery and blackmail of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and demand the immediate resignation of Pa. Muhammadu Buhari and call for another election to elect a more competent and vibrant Nigerian to lead to the people to the Nigeria of our Dreams.”

After the statement made its way to the public domain, the Peoples Democratic Party, urgently issued a rebuttal, where it distanced itself from the standpoint of the group.

A statement released by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, expressed dismay at the embarrassing statement put out by the group.

The party chose to toe the path of honour by disowning the group and calling its statement unacceptable, but it however, didn’t fail to insert an apparent swipe at the All Progressives Congress.

The PDP’s statement reads;

“The attention of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press statement by a group parading as PDP Media Watchdog and purporting to be working within and in the interest of our great party. This group is absolutely unknown to the PDP and has no connection whatsoever with our party at any level, neither is the content of their statement a reflection of the position or stance of the party.

For the avoidance of doubt, our great party has not authorized this group to use its name, acronym or logo to issue statements or make public pronouncements on any matter and we caution those behind them to henceforth desist from such immediately.

The PDP therefore distances itself from the embarrassing statement by this group wherein it called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign and went ahead to use offensive and denigrating language on the person and office of the President of our great country. This is completely unacceptable and against the posture of the PDP to engage only on robust and credible opposition while constructively offering alternatives to the programmes and policies of the APC-led government, preparatory to our return to power in the next four years.

We note with dismay that the attitude of this group is a direct consequence of the approach adopted by the APC in denigrating and insulting our immediate-past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Though we know that former President Jonathan suffered such fate in the hands of the APC, we shall not repay them in the same coin as such is not part of our tradition and value as a party. Furthermore, recall that the PDP had earlier informed the public and the media that only statements issued by the National Chairman, the National Secretary, the National Publicity Secretary or any other officer of the party authorized by the National Working Committee (NWC) should be regarded or reported as the position of the PDP on any matter.

In this regard, any group or individuals seeking to use the identity of the PDP on any issue should approach the leadership for authorization. We urge the media and the general public to be guided by this always.”

The All Progressives Congress- not known to take a punch and walk away, almost immediately released a statement addressing the matter.

In the statement put out by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lai Mohammed, the PDP Watchdog group was accused of being inept in its grasp of simple English, hence its lack of understanding of Buhari’s words.

The APC didn’t disappoint with its own statement, in which a major shade was thrown back at the PDP as well as immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Read;

“What President Buhari was saying, which was lost on those who issued that jejune statement, is that only his love and passion for the country could have made him, at his age, to come out of retirement to seek the office of President, over 30 years after he presided over the affairs of the country.

For 16 years, Nigerians gave the PDP the benefit of the doubt to move the country forward, but instead, the party put Nigeria in reverse gear at a high speed, spinning it towards a doomsday that was only averted when Nigerians showed the PDP the red card. This is what necessitated President Buhari to continuously seek the country’s highest political office, so he can help put the country on a forward march again. Nothing else matters, not for him the excitement of an office he previously held and the quest for personal accomplishment.

Within three weeks of President Buhari’s inauguration, he had done what the PDP government could not do in six years: Invigorate the fight against Boko Haram by rallying a regional and global front against the terror group. Today, the US has pledged to give $5 million for the fight against Boko Haram, in addition to other materialsupport. This is apart from the support that has been pledged by the G-7 for Nigeria’s efforts to quell the insurgency.

Thanks to President Buhari’s shuttle diplomacy, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) that the PDP government could not bring together for all of six years is ready to deploy next month, while the President has ordered the release of $21 million to facilitate the establishment of the headquarters of the force in N’Djamena, Chad.

Since assuming office about three weeks ago, President Buhari has visited Chad, Niger, Germany and South Africa, winning support and friends for Nigeria all over again and returning the country to the comity of respected nations. Those who were put off by the PDP government’s resort to politicizing the fight against Boko Haram – even as the insurgents grew stronger – are now joining President Buhari to battle the terrorists. In no distant future, the results of his tireless efforts will begin to show.

On the domestic front, President Buhari has been handling pressing issues far away from the klieg light, and his efforts to assembly a first class team to implement his change mantra, which he is personally driving, are continuing apace. We in the APC, and we are sure most unbiased Nigerians, are very proud of President Buhari and the vigour he has shown in governance, the kind of vigour we did not see in the immediate past administration that was presided over by a far younger man.

It rankles when those making these calls are from the ranks of the party that failed to avail itself creditably in 16 years. For the umpteenth time, we say that the PDP and its satellite bodies must realize that in order to be relevant, credible and to make the necessary impact, they must pick on real issues and articulate them intelligently, rather than latching on to trite matters. This very amateurish display won’t get them anywhere.”

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