Withdraw from presidential race, PDP tells Tinubu

withdraw from presidential race, PDP tells Tinubu

"The APC presidential candidate and his party should know that it is in his own interest to withdraw from the race as it will be futile to go into an election in which the will and aspiration of the people are manifestly against him and the APC...."

ByQueenEsther Iroanusi July 22, 2022 Reading Time: 2 mins read

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, to withdraw from the race.

The party, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said Mr Tinubu and the APC have committed too many atrocities towards Nigerians to want to continue in the race.

The party condemned the APC for allegedly hiring “street artisans, fraudsters and touts and criminally dressing them in bishop’s vestments to orchestrate an endorsement for its collapsing presidential campaign.’

It described the act as desperation by Mr Tinubu in the face of APC’s collapsing leadership, membership and followership structure across the country.

The PDP was reacting to pictures and videos of some people in cassocks who attended Kashim Shettima’s unveiling as the APC vice-presidential candidate on Wednesday.

Their presence had triggered outrage among many Nigerians. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had tagged them as “fake.”

The PDP said with this act, Mr Tinubu, has lost all moral standing to seek election as president – while still battling allegations of alleged perjury, non-existent certificate and extortions.

“More sickening is the outcry by the hirelings that they were defrauded by agents of the APC Presidential candidate, who paid them sums ranging from N30,000 to N40,000 as against the N100,000 they were earlier promised…Nigerians now know the individual who has been the planner and executor of the lies, false promises and corruption of the APC that have brought disunity, excruciating hardship, mass killings and political instability in the country in the last seven years,” the party said.

The PDP also mocked the ruling party for devaluing the naira at the current price of N665 to a Dollar today as well as the rising debt profile.

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Millions of businesses, the party said, have been shut down due to harsh economic policies and high costs of fuel, unemployment, cost of food items, medication and other essential services.

Tinubu’s defeat at home

The PDP also mocked Mr Tinubu for losing out at the just-concluded governorship election in Osun State.

Stating that the people of the state “rejected” him, the party called on Mr Tinubu to abandon his presidential ambition.

“PDP’s sweeping victory and the spontaneous jubilation across our country are direct statements by Nigerians on their resolve to stand on the platform of the PDP to free themselves from the agonizing stranglehold of the lying, cruel and life-discounting APC and its presidential candidate.

“The APC presidential candidate and his party should know that it is in his own interest to withdraw from the race as it will be futile to go into an election in which the will and aspiration of the people are manifestly against him and the APC. Asiwaju has no political fighting chance in the face of the soaring popularity of PDP’s very competent, candid, transparent, people-oriented and much more prepared Presidential Candidate, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar at the poll.”