The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has hit back at the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu over comments credited to the APC flag bearer. Atiku through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, challenged Tinubu “to subject himself to an hour long interview, like the Waziri did, and if he is able to be as articulate and mentally present as our candidate, then he can talk. Atiku said response to his interview by Tinubu showed ignorance of the facts of the content of the interview, adding it was because Tinubu had not had a long interview “for obvious reasons.”
“We were rather amused to read the knee-jerk response from the Tinubu Campaign Organisation to the wave-making interview granted by Waziri Atiku Abubakar to Arise TV on Thursday, July 21, 2022.
“Amusement, because we expected this. Mr Tinubu has not sat down to do any prolonged interview for obvious reasons. Nigerians have seen him talk in public and can themselves gauge the reason why he is mortified to do so.
“The Tinubu campaign exposed its gross desperation and vacuousness by citing the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) 1999, to declare Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s stance on engaging in a side business while he was a young customs officer as a breach of the law. “It is pertinent to educate the Tinubu campaign organisation that Nigeria is not under a military regime and our Constitutions are not retroactive in nature.
“Again, the Tinubu campaign betrayed either dishonesty or lack of attention to detail by claiming that Atiku Abubakar said oil contributed 20 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. That is a lie. What the Waziri said is as follows: oil only, maybe, accounts for about 20 per cent of our GDP.
“The use of the word ‘maybe’ by the Waziri was in reflection to the different figures given. While the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics states a figure close to 10 per cent, other multilateral organisations have given a much higher figure of between 15 to 20 per cent. So, while the jury is still out, it is right to qualify the contribution of oil and gas as a maybe.
“However, we do like to point out that Waziri Atiku Abubakar mentioned both the PDP and the APC during the interview and did not forget the name of his own party.
“It seems the Tinubu campaign organisation (can a disorganised body be called an organisation?) does not know the meaning of rotation of power and micro zoning. So, we will gladly educate them.
“Rotation of power refers to a constitutional provision where power is zoned between North and South. Micro-zoning refers to a nonconstitutional idea, where power is zoned not between North and South, but amongst geopolitical zones. We hope this cures the political illiteracy of the authors of that document.
“The rude response also accuses Waziri Atiku Abubakar of having “limited education”. Atiku Abubakar has an earned Master’s degree from Anglia Ruskin University. We challenge any of the present presidential candidates to present an equal or higher degree.
“Moreover, his university attendance is a matter of verified record. Can we say the same about some other persons? “On President Lincoln, we are afraid the poor student of history is the Tinubu campaign disorganisation. Yes, it is true that Lincoln ran for President with his name on the ballot twice. But he ran at other times, and failed to get his name on the ballot.
“In conclusion, we would like to challenge Bola Tinubu to subject himself to an hour long interview, like the Waziri did, and if he is able to be as articulate and mentally present as our candidate, then he can talk.
“Until then, we will only want to remind him and his yes men that they are not in a position to point fingers when they have not sat on the hot seat,” Atiku’s spokesperson said.