The All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of engaging in ethnic and tribal politics. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has refuted these charges.
The APC’s purposeful distortion, doctoring, and misinterpretation of Atiku’s comment in Kaduna in an effort to damage his reputation, according to the PDP, is disgraceful and reckless.
Atiku had stated that Nigeria needs a pan-Nigerian leader, not a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, during a meeting in Kaduna over the weekend.
Nigerians responded to Atiku’s statement by labelling the former vice president a sectional leader.
In order to do this, the APC had characterised Atiku’s remark as a significant assault on the nation’s national unity.
In response to the APC’s remark, Debo Ologunagba, a spokesman for the PDP, stressed that Atiku is a leader for all of Nigeria.
According to a statement by Ologunagba, the APC’s response reveals that the party is uneasy about Atiku’s popularity across the nation.
The statement reads: “For clarity and avoidance of doubt Atiku Abubakar remains a Pan-Nigerian leader; a symbol of national unity, cohesion and tolerance who is comfortable and loved in all parts of the country.
“He had never and will never set any part of our country against the other as being mischievously hyped by the APC. To set the record straight, the PDP Presidential Candidate, in responding within the context of the question put to him at the event noted that he had built bridges across the country and that what Nigerians, including an average northerner need, was a Pan-Nigerian leader and not an ethnic champion.
“We know that the APC is jittery over the overwhelming popularity of Atiku Abubakar across the nation because of his focus on issues that will improve the lives of Nigerians and as such the APC is desperate to smear his Pan-Nigerian standing.”
Nigeria is more polarised under the APC-led government, the PDP bemoaned.
