By; ALIYU BIN ABBAS
A report attributed to the APC Presidential Campaign Council has unpopularly made rounds which ignorantly claimed that His Excellency, The Wazirin Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar, is the mastermind of the recent cash and fuel scarcities, that the APC government has meted on unsuspecting hardworking Nigerians.
The fact that the APC would stoop to a level as low as crying over the comment or lack thereof from an opposition leader for an ill-prepared policy they shoved down the throats of Nigerians, would have been comical if it were not tragic. This certainly leaves much to be desired and reeks of an own-goal.
Nigerians are wiser now and would not fall for this cheap blackmail and failed attempt at deflection as if the currency-swap and the fuel scarcity are the only blunders they have committed since coming to power in 2015. The report claims that Waziri Atiku is “in bed with saboteurs…” among the operators of Money Deposit Banks. It is tasking to unravel the layers of ignorance in their statement but I will make an attempt.
Is the APC now admitting that its government is at loggerheads with commercial banks? If so, that explains the catastrophic execution of an initiative that was claimed to bring about economic development.
His Excellency Atiku Abubakar has never and will never deny the cordial relationship he has built and laboriously sustains with banks and every meaningful contributor to Nigeria’s growth, but anyone that understands the institution of government can tell you for free that any government that would be as unassuming of the aftermath of its policies to the point that it suspects sabotage, does not deserve to govern.
This is just giving a sneak peek of what leadership under the APC would look like in 2023 and beyond, should they win (though they won’t) – the blame game would continue but God forbid!
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sold to Nigerians on the sole platform of “revolutionising Lagos” yet when our dear Lagos and even his businesses were attacked as an offshoot of the poor reaction to crises that this government has made us accustomed to, not a word was heard from him except when he declared himself an emperor of a supposed democracy. The obvious question is, why now?
A bullion van was visibly seen by Nigerians driving into his residence on the eve of the 2019 elections and now about N2.7 Trillion of Nigerian money is changed and he suddenly gains his critical voice just as he did when he feared that the primaries election of his party might not be in his favour?
The possible reason is clear to Nigerians but for the sake of a few blinded by APC’s deception, they only complained because Tinubu and the APC are living under the illusion that vote buying can tip the election in their favour, but it will shock them to realize that Nigeria has advanced beyond such gimmicks.
My free advice is that the APC should just focus on restrategising their campaign approach that does not include buying votes or generous distribution of blames for what they should be taking responsibility for. Better still, they can just apologize to Nigerians for the past eight years and throw in the towel.
The APC has spent most of their campaign time selling the impression that there is a crack in the PDP now they are lamenting that the entire presidency is against them. If their insinuation of sabotage from the presidency is true, Atiku Abubakar has been constantly sabotaged by the presidency since 2019 but not only has he gotten used to it, he has remained above it every time. If Atiku Abubakar has such powers as the APC claims, it would be channeled towards insisting on a free and fair election which guarantees Atiku Abubakar’s victory.
The report rigmaroles around the fact that Atiku Abubakar asked for an extension of the deadline for the currency swap which begs for the APC to be clear about their stand. Are they outrightly condemning the policy and demanding that the CBN should retract and condemn the notes that they have already used taxpayers’ money to mint?
Conclusively, the report failingly attempted to paint Atiku Abubakar as an enemy of Nigeria, but there can hardly be anyone more patriotic, who stood against a government he was part of when Nigerians were coerced to allow a president’s third term. Atiku has always stepped up to be the opposition at crucial moments when leadership became tyrannical and against the interest of the common man.
If APC would start scrapping the bottom of the barrel to look for how to tarnish the image of a man that has contested in four presidential elections and was also the Vice President of Nigeria for 8 years, then it is clear who is a patriot and a clear winner come February 25.
Amb. Aliyu Bin Abbas is the Director General Atiku Care Foundation.
