The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is not qualified to run for president in 2023, according to the Tinubu Campaign Organization (TCO).
This was stated in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, TCO Director of Media and Communications, on Saturday in Abuja in response to remarks made by Atiku in a television interview.
“We have watched Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s interview on a national television and were extremely shocked by the many lies and ignorance displayed by the PDP presidential candidate.
“In the interview, Atiku exposed himself as a man who is not prepared for the job he is applying for and a man who cannot be entrusted with our commonwealth.
“He was flippant in his response to important questions about his record of service and how he made money while serving in Customs.
“He muddled up facts and exhibited befudling absence of mind during the interview,” Onanuga said.
He spoke The admission by Atiku in the interview that he had defrauded the system for years and had participated in flagrant misconduct while working for the government astounded everyone.
Onanuga claimed that when working as a customs official at the Idi-Iroko border, Atiku disclosed that he operated a for-profit cab company and claimed that there was no rule prohibiting public servants in Nigeria from engaging in business.
“He punched harder, claiming there is no conflict of interest in doing so, but we found this to be untrue.
“Every officer in the civil service is expected to comply with a code of conduct and service rules.
“The rules bar civil and public servants from engaging in private business while in government employment to the detriment of the service he is employed to render to the public.
“The 1999 Constitution further codifies this in part one, fifth schedule section of 2 (b),” Onanuga said.
He noted that the clause stated that a public officer may not manage or participate in any private business, profession, or trade, unless he is not employed on a full-time basis.
The TSO DG pointed out that the regulation did permit a public official to work as a farmer.
He questioned what statute Atiku was citing to justify his flagrant wrongdoing as a public official.
“It is our considered view that Atiku gamed the system all through his career in public service, culminating in his founding of the Intel Logistics along with Late Shehu Yar’Adua and some Italians.
He claimed that this occurred even though he was still working for the Nigeria Customs Service.
He continued by saying that Atiku, who was attempting to dazzle his audience with his ostensible familiarity with international events, embarrassed himself by using bogus information from Egypt.
Atiku’s assertion that there were two million police officers in Egypt, according to Onanuga, was refuted by the TCO.
This was especially true, he asserted, because other sources pegged the figure at around 500,000 for a population of 104 million, not 80 million as Atiku stated.
He claimed that the PDP presidential candidate also demonstrated a lack of understanding of important areas of the nation’s economy.
Onanuga went on to say that it was unexpected that Atiku was unaware of how much the oil and gas sector contributed to Nigeria’s GDP (GDP).
“He claimed the sector represents 20 per cent of our national GDP whereas it is below 10 per cent.
“And it is still falling, owing to the growth of non-oil sector under the current President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress(APC) administration.
“Our conclusion is that Atiku is ill-prepared to be president of Nigeria, if he could bungle a television interview that was planned well ahead of the day and time.
“We expected the PDP presidential candidate to be well informed on any issue before coming on national television to expose himself to avoidable ridicule,” Onanuga said.
He continued, saying it was regrettable that Atiku did not perceive running for president on the PDP ticket after eight years of a president from his region of the country as politics of exclusion while criticizing the APC’s 2023 Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
He added that Atiku gave multiple inconsistent responses during the interview, saying in the same breath that power rotation is not permitted by the Constitution.
He later acknowledged that the PDP has always swapped power between the North and the South after first claiming that the party had never micro zoned any positions.
“Atiku’s defense of why he chose to run for president of the PDP over a southerner is a perfect example of ellipsis,” Onanuga added.
