Tinubu accuses Atiku of twisting comment on fuel scarcity, naira notes

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential flag-bearer, Atiku Abubakar of misinterpreting his recent comment about fuel scarcity and the introduction of new Naira notes.

This comes after Tinubu said the lingering fuel scarcity and the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce new Naira notes were schemes designed to scuttle the 2023 general elections.

His remarks, made at the APC Presidential rally in Abeokuta on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, were deemed as a subtle attack on President Muhammadu Buhari's government.

“They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200 per litre. Go and relax. They don’t want this election to be held, they want to scuttle it. Will you allow them?” Tinubu had said.

In his reaction to Tinubu's statement, Atiku cautioned his opponent to stop attacking Buhari as such tirades can't avert his imminent defeat at the poll.

Speaking through Phrank Shaibu, his Special Assistant, Public Communication, Atiku said, “Obviously frustrated by his inability to stop the cashless policy and currency redesign of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that will curb vote buying and enhance the credibility of next month’s election, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has begun crying over his imminent defeat.

”Tinubu, while addressing a crowd in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said the currency redesign was targeted at him. Well, the Holy Bible says in Proverbs 28: 1 that “the wicked run when no one is chasing them, but an honest person is as brave as a lion.”

Tinubu denies attacking Buhari: Countering Atiku's response, Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media & Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, said in a statement on Thursday, January 26, 2023, that Tinubu didn't mention Buhari's name in his remarks as erroneously claimed by the former Vice President.

He accused the PDP and its candidate of distorting Tinubu's comment with the aim of creating a wedge between him and his long-term ally, Buhari.

The statement read: “Nigerians should no longer be in doubt about those working in cahoots with fifth columnists in the system to inflict avoidable pains on our hapless people for political end.

“No sooner Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu empathised with the Nigerian people facing the dual crises of fuel and new Naira notes scarcity, than the opposition PDP and the Atiku camp issued a knee-jerk response, derailing from the issues, distorting Asiwaju’s statement and trying, in vain, to create a wedge between our presidential candidate and President Muhammadu Buhari.

“When the guilty are afraid of being uncovered, they try to push back with red-herring

“For the records, Asiwaju Tinubu during APC campaign rally at Abeokuta on Wednesday, in his statement, did not mention, blame or accuse President Muhammadu Buhari for the current challenges in the country.

“Asiwaju Tinubu was only adverting government’s attention to the sabotage being carried out by some Fifth Columnists in the system, possibly working in cahoots with the PDP.

“How does an advisory genuinely made by Asiwaju Tinubu to protect and create goodwill for the government of his party become an attack? It can only be so in the jaundiced view of the PDP.

“It is in this light we found amusing the directionless Atiku Campaign’s bagful of mischief in their hurriedly put-together press statement meant to gain shameful mileage from the suffering of Nigerians.

“PDP and Atiku should remember not to get high on their own smoke. No political blackmail and an attempt to create a conflict between Tinubu and his long-term ally, President Muhammadu Buhari can succeed. We have bad news for Atiku and his handlers: their latest mischief is therefore doomed to fail.”