President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned attacks on his person by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and charged Nigerians to separate the chaff from the wheat in assertions by political opposition in the country.
The president’s reaction is coming on the heels of his claimed personalisation of the opposition’s campaigns against him as the nation approaches next month’s election.
The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar had accused the president and a son-in-law of corruption through actions in a government agency headed by the latter.
But reacting through a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said: “We read the various statements issued in the press by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the latest personalizing their attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This is an uncalled for attack on the administration that crosses the line in a democracy. A call for disobedience to government is a call to anarchy and should not be called opposition politics.
“Seeing people go down as the PDP and its leaders are heading to in the elections is pitiful but to seek to bring down the roof on everyone is tragic, selfish and the height of desperation. Happily, these acts do not reflect the true feeling of citizens across the whole nation, and that is why the PDP is sinking deeper and deeper into the oblivion. They are losing memberships in droves and their campaign is just a caricature of a proper campaign.
“It is high time Nigerians separated the chaff floating around in the air in the name of opposition from the crude and disgraceful invective being thrown personally at President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The problem of the opposition is that they are not talking about solutions. Rather, each of them, led in the pack by the PDP is an expert at counting problems. That is the reason why the voting population is coming around the Buhari-led All Progressive s Congress (APC).
“For years, the PDP had been a bastion of corruption and impunity and it is difficult for them to change from their rentier way if life in the nation’s affairs. But CHANGE has come, and has come to stay.”
The PDP flag-bearer had in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused President Buhari and his son-in-law, Mr. Junaid Abdullahi of engaging in corruption, economic sabotage and unethical conduct by using funds amounting to about 18 billion Naira creamed off fake contract awards to finance the President’s re-election campaign.
The statement said the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled Federal Government has been using the Border Communities Development Agency (BDCA) headed by Buhari’s son-in-law, Mr. Abdullahi for hundreds of phony lawmakers’ constituency projects, using non-existent firms to fund Buhari’s electioneering campaign.
Buttressing the authenticity of the report, first carried by an online newspaper, Atiku said no fewer than 815 contractors were recently shortlisted by the Border Communities Development Agency (BDCA) for hundreds of constituency projects ranging from N10millionto 200million worth of contracts despite failing to meet federal contracting requirements.
He said the moves were aimed towards amassing funds for President Buhari’s re-election bid and challenged President Buhari and his son-in-law to deny the claims.
Alhaji Atiku therefore urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to thoroughly investigate this alleged corruption and economic sabotage, for its likely corrosive effects on the economy as well as the 2019 polls.
