From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has replied his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, describing him as projecting “untruth”.
Atiku had, while taking a swipe at Tinubu on national television, revealed that he rejected the former Lagos governor as his presidential running mate in 2007 under the Action Congress (AC) because of his position against a Muslim-Muslim joint ticket.
Replying to the remark, Tinubu emphasised that all Nigerians should feel great pity and sadness for the PDP candidate. He further claimed that in his desperate attempt to win the 2023 presidential election through stoking religious bias, Atiku reduced himself to uttering baseless lies.
He also described Atiku as a man reputed for reneging on his promise, stressing that he has no moral justification for raising the issue of a Muslim-Muslim ticket other than to confirm that he is a hypocrite.
Reacting through a statement issued by Tunde Rahman, Media Office Tinubu Media Office, he noted: “We are saddened to see such a man become unhinged from the truth. So obsessed 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 July 22 television interview, Atiku assaulted historic truth by lying that he did not name Tinubu as his running mate in 2007 on the AC ticket because Atiku did not want a Muslim as his running mate,” the statement read.
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Responding further to the false account of the PDP presidential candidate, Tinubu, while setting the record straight, recalled that Atiku was not among those that 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 then President 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,” Tinubu noted.
Not done yet, the APC presidential standard bearer claimed Atiku’s account was contrary to what transpired. “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.