•As Okowa assures of South East inclusion if party wins 

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja, Paul Osuyi, Asaba  and Chukwudi Nweje

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu plans to acquire Federal Government properties across the country if elected.

He was reacting to claims by the APC candidate that he sold off government properties as vice president between 1999 and 2007.

This is as the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, yesterday, declared that democracy would die in Nigeria if Tunubu is voted in as president.

Spokesman of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, Charles Aniagwu, who stated in Asaba, said Tinubu had stifled opposition in Lagos State to the extent that it had become almost impossible to display the insignia of other opposition parties in Lagos without being attacked by elements loyal to the APC presidential candidate. Today, democracy has taken a nose dive in Lagos, you cannot even go and advertise any candidate or place the insignia of any political party apart from the APC in Lagos. Imagine  if that kind of person becomes the president of Nigeria, it means that it would be worse than military rule. Any vote for Tinubu is a vote for the death of democracy in Nigeria, it is a vote for the death of electoral democracy in Nigeria. Hence Nigerians must take notice that the issue is not about his state of mind at the moment; but that those canvassing for him have ulterior motives. We don’t believe that their interest is Nigeria because they would have understood quite well that Bola Tinubu does not believe in democracy, if he does, he will not prevent people from being able to freely participate in democracy in Lagos,” Aniagwu said. 

Also, Atiku in a statement by Phrank Shaibu, accused Tinubu of plot to annex Federal Government properties as he did during his reign as Lagos State governor. 

He also accused Tinubu of being the first governor in Nigeria’s history to sign an obnoxious pension law that guaranteed lifetime benefits for himself and his family.

Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate of PDP, Ifeanyi Okowa has assured the people of the South East of even development and inclusion if Atiku  is voted into office.

Okowa, who spoke at the first quarterly General Assembly of the Association of South-East Past Presidents-General (ASEPP), at the weekend in Enugu, where the association endorsed the PDP for 2023 presidential election, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of neglecting the South East.

“This is not the Nigeria that we expect. There are six geo-political zones, and the South East is one of them. If you look at the appointments that have been made, the South East does not occupy any prime position. That obviously is not the Nigeria that you and l dreamt of,” he said. 

The Delta State governor said the APC style of administration breeds distrust and disunity among Nigerians and assured that an Atiku Abubakar-led Federal Government with him as vice would ensure that the South East is adequately represented in government, build trust, and unite Nigerians.

He further said, “I want to promise you that by the grace of God when Atiku Abubakar and I become President and Vice President, we will work with this association to promote peace and development in the South East. What is going on in Nigeria today is not what you and I expected. It is happening because there is disunity. Why is there disunity? There is disunity because we cannot trust ourselves. Why is it that we cannot trust ourselves? We cannot trust ourselves because Nigeria is run in such a way that some parts cannot trust those at the head of the government. The APC-led Federal Government as of today, l don’t want to believe that they are fair to the people of South East or the Ndi Igbo.”