The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council yesterday refuted the social media rumor that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party’s nominee for president in next year’s election, had withdrew due to health concerns.
The rumor was characterized by the council as a figment of the author of the incorrect and misleading posts.
Festus Keyamo, the Council’s spokesman, claimed in an Abuja statement that the APC’s flag bearer “is strong, healthy and fit enough for the coming campaigns”.
Keyamo said that “the opposition will hear loud and clear from Tinubu soon”.
The fake and deceptive post on certain social media accounts was allegedly published by supporters of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi.
The Council also condemned an unpleasant and hateful video that Obi is said to have produced and distributed, in which he purportedly blamed an ill-defined and nonexistent “Tinubu’s Group” for disseminating a WhatsApp message urging Yorubas not to vote for him.
The Council spokesman denied the alleged WhatsApp message and asserted that all of the organizations backing the Tinubu/Shettima ticket have established affiliations with reputable promoters.
Keyamo said: “it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorised and for which we take responsibility.
“We challenge Mr. Peter Obi to reveal the source and name(s) behind that nebulous Whatsapp message.
“We wish to state that it is obvious Mr. Peter Obi deliberately concocted that message and circulated that offensive video himself as a campaign strategy in order to come across as a victim of some kind of ethnic agenda, whereas in truth, he is the real agent provocateur of an ethnic agenda.
“As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr. Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a Governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate.
“We have it on good authority that part of the “US Strategy” (just like the failed “Dubai Strategy” his former boss and himself adopted in 2019) was to return to the country and spread ethnic hatred amongst the voters and cause chaos, then pose as the victim. They have just kick-started that plot by orchestrating and circulating the said video.
“We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a Presidential Candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our faultlines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions.
“This is completely unbecoming of a Presidential Candidate that hopes to unite this country. Again, we note that Mr. Obi’s latest stunt is consistent with what is now widely perceived as his adoption of hate as campaign strategy, having consistently failed to rein in his known and identifiable supporters, mostly domiciled on social media, threatening political opponents with violence and death.
“Moreover, here is a man known as a sectional irredentist, with public records showing him expelling Nigerians a section of the country from Anambra State while he was Governor and has decidedly resorted to ethno-religious card in his activities and messaging thus far, now accusing his better of being an ethnic champion. What a supreme irony!
“We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr. Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the “US Plan”. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn this tactless tactics and cheap manoeuver by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan.
“Our advice to Mr. Peter Obi is to quit the race if he has nothing more to tell Nigerians.”
