The controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress has generated malaise between the former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party PDPpresidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his long-time associate and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu.
Atiku had on Arise TV interview on Friday, accused the APC of a lack of sensitivity to the religious sensibilities of Nigerians and further claimed that the former Lagos State governor had always wanted a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Atiku alleged that as the presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress (AC) in 2007 presidential election, his refusal of Tinubu’s lobby to emerge as his vice presidential candidate was the beginning of their political differences.
Responding through his media aide, Tunde Rahman, the APC presidential candidate, accused Atiku Abubakar of falsehood, declaring that “in his desperate attempt to win the election by stoking religious bias, Atiku has reduced himself to uttering baseless lies on national television.
“We are saddened to see such a man become unhinged from the truth. So obsessed is he with his quest for office, Atiku is willing to render any form of untruth if he thinks it might gain him a single vote. Atiku may want to be president. However, all he has shown is that he is pathological.
“Whatever moral compass he had, has been lost. During a 22 July television interview, Atiku assaulted historic truth by lying that he did not name Tinubu as his running mate in 2007 on the Action Congress ticket because Atiku did not want a Muslim as his running mate.”
Going down memory lane, Tinubu recalled that Atiku was not among those who founded the Action Congress.
“It was the actual founders of the AC who offered the party’s flag to Atiku because of the need to fight the authoritarian designs the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP had on Nigeria’s democracy.
“At that moment, Atiku had been unceremoniously pushed aside if not out of the PDP by Obasanjo. We needed to rally all forces to confront the one-party state Obasanjo had in mind. Atiku was simply a beneficiary of this collective duty to fight the attack on multi-party democracy the PDP had launched.
“I feel sorry for dear old Atiku. Love of his own ambition has eclipsed his relationship with the truth and an honest account of the past. We formed the AC without his knowledge. When President Obasanjo virtually exiled him from the PDP, we lent him our support by giving him the AC platform for the 2007 election.
“Let me say openly that Atiku offered me the vice presidential ticket in 2007. Let me also say that my religion has not changed. When he offered the position to me, I was a Muslim and I believe he was aware of my religious faith at the time.”
Speaking further, the APC presidential candidate accused his estranged associate of “paucity of character and love of intrigue,” in desperation to be president.
Tinubu recalled that in the aborted Third Republic in 1993, Atiku, who lost the defunct Social Democratic Party presidential ticket to the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, sought desperately to be running mate to Abiola when he knew that the latter was a fellow Muslim.
“True to form, Atiku, fifteen years later, promised Governor Nyesom Wike the same thing this electoral season and similarly reneged. Governor Wike is a Christian.
“When it comes to intrigue, we can say that Atiku is without bias. He will attempt to lie and deceive both Christian and Muslim with equal vigour.
“Atiku has no business raising the issue of a Muslim-Muslim ticket except as a hypocrite. Perhaps he believes people have forgotten his antics during the 1993 election. After he woefully lost his bid to be the presidential candidate of SDP, what did he do?
“He canvassed and lobbied harder than anyone to become the running mate to late Chief MKO Abiola. When it benefitted him personally, Atiku did not see anything wrong with Muslim-Muslim ticket. He saw everything right in such a ticket as long as he was on it,” Tinubu said.
The APC presidential candidate further restated his stance that his choice of former Borno State governor, Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate had nothing to do with his faith but competence, experience, ability and vision
“Now, Atiku criticizes my selection as running mate based on religion. He does so because he cannot criticize it on other grounds. If Atiku were to have one of his rare moments of honesty, he would admit that the person I selected as my running mate is more qualified for the position than the man who joined him. And this conclusion has nothing to do with religious faith. It has everything to do with competence, experience, ability, and vision.
“My running mate and I are here to build a more just and prosperous society for all Nigerians, be they Christians, Muslims or adherents of other faiths. It seems that Atiku is here trying to build an edifice of lies and call that the house into which Nigerians should walk and reside. He will fail in this sad attempt to trick an entire nation.
“Let me restate my position on religion and politics. When I decided that Senator Shettima was the best selection as my running mate, I listened to and weighed in serious balance, the advice received from a broad and representative array of wonderful Nigerians who deeply care about this nation and the path it must go.
“Some people counselled that I should select a Christian to garner support of the Christian community. Some said I should select a Muslim for a similar reason. I clearly could not do both. Both positions had merit and right on their side. But neither position expressed what was most right and needed for the moment in which we find ourselves and the nation.
“All my life, the decisions regarding the team supporting me have always been guided by the principles of competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness, and adherence to excellence. I was not going to depart from these principles at this important juncture. In fact, it was more important than ever before that I adhere to these principles.
“As governor of Lagos State, these principles helped me assemble one of the most capable governing cabinets any state or this nation has seen. I trust in these principles to allow them to, once more, guide me to construct another exemplary team that can do Nigeria proud.
“In this crucial moment, where so much is at stake, we must prioritise leadership, competence, and the ability to work as a team over other considerations.
“This is the standard I will use to select the rest of my campaign team and if you elect me as your president when I staff my government. I will select the best people for the right jobs so that we can construct a better Nigeria now and for generations yet to come,” Tinubu said.
However, in a reaction by Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, the PDP candidate 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.