by Ranti Joseph

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lai Mohammed spoke on Wednesday, March 25, at a press conference in Lagos.

While addressing his audience, he directed his contempt to the Jonathan-led administration. Below are the 10 things we learnt from the opposition party’s press statement:

 

1. Jonathan believes Buhari would be a jailer

“They say he does not have a secondary school certificate, even when the school he attended publicly released his results. They say he is suffering from a terminal disease, even when it was clear that the medical report they used to back that claim was forged. They say he won’t be the one to rule, they say he will approve same-sex law, they say he will jail all Nigerians and they say he is a religious bigot.”

2. Mohammed says they even look for dubious allies

“When all the muckraking failed, woefully, because the stock of our candidate rose in direct proportion to the mudslinging he was subjected to, they went and commissioned an American media man, Richard Grenell, whom they fraudulently called an ex-US Envoy, to write an uninformed opinion piece that Gen. Buhari would Islamise Nigeria if he is elected.”

3. He takes a swipe at them, says they are wastrels and thieves

“This PDP-led Jonathan administration is also patently wasteful and corrupt! Or how else does one describe an Administration that has been wooing voters with huge bribes? Never in the history of our country has a President superintended over such a morally-repugnant act as the massive bribery of Nigerians in recent times, especially in the six weeks for which the elections were cunningly postponed.”

4. Jonathan has made the economy worse

“To make matters worse, the bribe money has transformed, in the Jonathan Administration’s skewed meaning of that word, from Naira to the US dollar, a clear indication that the Administration has lost confidence in the national currency and has nothing but disdain for it. People are wondering why the Naira, which was exchanging at 160 to the Dollar when the Jonathan Administration assumed office, is now exchanging at an all-time high of 226. Well, apart from the falling price of crude oil in the international market, the reason for the huge depreciation in the value of the national currency is the unprecedented abuse to which it has been subjected by the Jonathan Administration, which apparently is engaging in a frenzied mop-up of the Dollar for bribery purposes.”

5. He should have engaged in purposeful governance than shameless politicking

“What the Jonathan Administration did not realize is that it would not have needed to bribe Nigerians to vote for it, if it had spent the past six years engaging in purposeful governance, instead of shameless politicking. When they should have worked diligently for the betterment of the lives of Nigerians, in accordance with their oath of office, they opted to work for themselves. When they should have served the people, they chose to serve themselves. Now they need the votes of the same people and, having realized they have not served them, they decided to bribe them to get their votes. Nigerians are not stupid, as the Jonathan Administration will soon realize.”

6. Jonathan so desperate has resorted to jail their leaders

“Gentleman, recall that on March 21st, our party issued a statement in which we raised the alarm over a plot to arrest some of our leaders, especially Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on trumped-up charges. Though they rushed to deny it, we have it on good authority that they have not given up on that evil plot.”

7. They have even stooped to devious approach

“The plot is to plant ammunition, PVCs and card reader jammers, which they have dubiously acquired, in the residence, office or vehicle of these APC chieftains. The APC chieftains will then be arrested with fanfare and subjected to trumped-up charges.”

8. They could have hidden allies

“As we said earlier, voters should ignore the unlawful order from the Inspector-General of Police urging them to go home after casting their ballots. Voters should rather listen to the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, who said the electoral law does not state anywhere that voters cannot or should not wait to watch and ensure that their votes are counted. We are therefore urging the electorate to make sure they stay behind to protect their votes after casting their ballots, as was the case in 2011.

9. OPC another ally under the guise as INEC official?

“Fredrick Fasheun of the OPC that he will deploy OPC members to every polling unit across the country to monitor the presidential elections. This is simply outrageous and nonsensical. In the first instance, Fasheun’s party, the UPN, is not even on the ballot because a court has ruled that it cannot contest the elections. Secondly, in what capacity will Fasheun deploy OPC members to monitor the elections? Is OPC accredited by INEC to monitor the polls? When did ethnic militias become election monitors? This is what President Jonathan has caused by drafting outlaws into the electoral process, all in desperation to win. Now, those who should be in jail are calling the shots on national elections. What an anomaly!”

10. Sensitive issues, unemployment and insecurity unaddressed

“We will like to remind Nigerians that the issues that will shape these elections remain the same: Unemployment, especially among our youths; insecurity of lives and property, as can be seen in the continued disappearance of the Chibok girls and the killing of over 15,000 innocent Nigerians by the terror group Boko Haram; unprecedented corruption, or stealing if you like to use their parlance and dilapidated infrastructure. These issues must not be buried under the avalanche of muckraking and sleazy campaign embarked by the PDP-led Jonathan Administration.”