Alleged Fake Bishop: Atiku, PDP knock APC, Tinubu over Muslim- Muslim ticket, others
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on Friday berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu over the Muslim-Muslim ticket, alleged fake bishops, who graced the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as Vice Presidential candidate to Tinubu and other issues.
They have, however, advised Tinubu to withdraw from the presidential race scheduled for February 25, 2023.
He said: “The diversity in the nation was from the APC-led government. My fundamental disagreement and departure from Asiwaju politically was in 2007 on the issue of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Remember I came out of PDP on the issue of zoning and together with him we formed ACN and I was given a ticket in Lagos and he insisted to be my running mate and I said no, I am not going to have a Muslim-Muslim Ticket. So he switched his support to the late Umaru Yar’adua, that was the departing point.”
Atiku disclosed that he advised the President in 2015, to nominate a different faith as running mate for fairness and equity.
“And of course, it is also a fact when the President Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) emerged in 2015 in Lagos, I opposed the Muslim-Muslim Ticket and my opposition actually reinforced the decision of the president to pick a Christian running mate. So I have all along opposed that. I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe its right for a country like Nigeria that is multi-ethnic, multi-religious, there should be balancing of interest,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, derided the APC and its presidential candidate, Tinubu over the alleged fake bishop that graced the Shettima unveiling.
He said that the PDP was appalled by the nauseating, blasphemous and unpardonable act by the APC “in hiring street artisans, fraudsters and touts and criminally dressing them in bishop’s vestments to orchestrate an endorsement for its collapsing Presidential campaign.”
“Nigerians were sickened by videos and pictorial evidence of known mechanics, bus conductors and fraudsters sacrilegiously being dressed in fake bishop vestments and paid to endorse the unveiling of Asiwaju Tinubu’s running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima.
“Such action is unacceptable and unbecoming of any individual aspiring to a leadership position at any level let alone, the office of the President. This is an embarrassment to leadership.
“More sickening is the outcry by the hirelings that they were defrauded by agents of the APC Presidential candidate, who paid them sums ranging from N30,000 to N40,000 as against the N100,000 they were earlier promised.
“It is therefore ludicrous that instead of being remorseful and asking for forgiveness, the APC Presidential Campaign is shamelessly posting lame denials and excuses in the face of hard and verified evidence of its involvement in the shameless venture.”
The party noted that the lies, false promises and corruption of the APC brought disunity, excruciating hardship, mass killings and political instability in the country in the last seven years.
The party further noted that under the APC, the nation’s productive sector has been completely wrecked; the over $550 billion economy (largest in Africa and 26th globally) with a naira value of N167 to the Dollar handed over by the PDP has been brought to its knees with the naira now crawling at N665 to a Dollar today.
It also noted that under the APC government, “Nigeria’s debt stock has astronomically risen from N12 trillion under the PDP to N41.6 trillion with our nation going broke as Debt Servicing cost has now surpassed Government revenue with over N300 billion.
“Today, millions of businesses have been shut down due to harsh economic policies and high cost of fuel; unemployment has risen to over 35%, cost of food items, medication and essential services have skyrocketed beyond reach as over 90 million Nigerians are no longer able to afford their daily meals and other basic necessities of life. What a tragedy!
“It is now crystal clear to Nigerians why the people of Asiwaju’s ancestral State of Osun and the South West geo-political zone which ought to be his natural stronghold outrighly rejected him and his APC in the July 16, 2022 Governorship election in Osun the State.”
