The Peoples Democratic Party has cautioned the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, not to draw himself out by joining in what it calls “the smear campaign” and “unsavoury comments” against its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
It said that Tinubu, as an elder, should “not reduce his pedigree” by engaging in what it called indecorous utterances which it said had become the trademark APC.
The PDP was reacting to a statement made by Tinubu in Abuja on Wednesday, when he boasted that the APC would defeat the PDP and its presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election.
He said the country would not allow the PDP, which, he alleged, ran the country badly while in power for 16 years between 1999 and 2015.
He said wherever Atiku, who is presently in Dubai, holds meetings, the APC would come out triumph.
Tinubu had said, “We don’t fear, whether he is meeting in the jungle, in Dubai or in Abu Dhabi. People are free to meet and strategise in any way they fell, but we are not going back to the illusion of the PDP. It is not possible, Nigerians will not do that.
“They say slow and steady wins the race. We inherited that from our forefathers and knowledgeable people.
“We can’t go back to the pit that we inherited for 16 years. They can strategise from anywhere, but a leopard cannot change its skin.”
But the PDP in a statement by its National Publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on Thursday said
it was regrettable that someone like Tinubu could recourse to the use of what he called indecent language.
He said, “It is also instructive to state that a person of Asiwaju status can conduct his political activities without recourse to indecent language that is lacking in respect for a personality, such as Atiku, whom Nigerians, across board, have generally resolved to be their next President.
“For the avoidance of doubt, despite the ludicrous disposition of APC and its leaders towards the 2019 Election campaign, the repositioned PDP and our presidential candidate remain committed to our promise to focus on solutions to the myriad of problems facing our people and transform their lives for the better.
“The PDP therefore cautions Asiwaju Tinubu to redirect the discourse of his party to productive issues instead of this unbridled resort to lies, deception, beguilement, propaganda, smear campaign and uncouth language, which Nigerians now resent.“
The Punch
