The Presidency Monday took a swipe at the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar noting that it was his “inordinate ambition” to be President that is doomed, and not Nigeria.
The presidency in a statement stated that it had advised Atiku that after over three decades of his “elusive bid for the Presidency of Nigeria, he must now end his unprofitable bid and go away from any venture that will further pollute the political atmosphere and national harmony.”
Atiku, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election had while reacting to the Supreme Court judgement that affirmed the victory of Bola Tinubu as the validly elected president of Nigeria said that Nigeria was doomed.
He had explained that by the judgment of the Supreme Court on October 26, 2023, the apex court supported forgery, perjury, identity theft and illegality.
But the presidency in reaction to the Atiku’s claims in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said that Nigeria was moving forward and set to achieve its manifest destiny as one of the most respected and successful nations of the world.
Titled: “Time for Atiku Abubakar to finally go away and end his ambition to be president,” the presidency said that Atiku’s brand of politics was such that once an electoral process or election did not favour him, democracy would become dysfunctional and must therefore be imperilled.
Onanuga said, “Contrary to Atiku’s gloomy submission on our democracy, we are excited to tell the world that our democracy is thriving and blossoming. It is the reason, for the first time, since 1999 the character of our National Assembly and its outlook reflect the diversity and plurality of the choices and preferences of voters as a rainbow coalition of different parties as opposed to the practice in the past where just two parties dominated the national parliament.
“In today’s Nigeria, votes count. No amount of deliberate distortions of facts about our recent election by Alhaji Atiku and his partner, Peter Obi can vitiate the continuous improvement of our electoral process which local and international observers have hailed.
As declared by the Supreme Court, IReV was not designed as an online collation centre. It was simply a public viewing centre for results. PDP and Atiku, including Peter Obi’s faction of Labour Party cannot continue to insist on their own reality against commonsense, logic and the law.”
He added, “Atiku and his army of hirelings knew why they lost the election. The PDP candidate lost because Nigerians preferred Bola Ahmed Tinubu and voted for him to be president. Tinubu, along with his APC, won because he offered a better vision for our country’s future. The All Progressives Congress as a united and formidable party which ran a well-coordinated campaign with his rank and file intact.”
The statement added, “Now as we get to the proper business of governance after Atiku’s unwarranted distraction, we have picked some clear lessons going forward. One is that our institutions must be strengthened on diligent and sturdy wings, enough to withstand and identify from afar rabble-rousers who masquerade as statesmen.
“Second, our institutions must also ensure that corrupt, desperate, self-serving serial losers should not have a space in our democracy, because if they don’t win the battle, they might burn the nation.
“We want to advise Atiku that after over three decades of elusive bid for the Presidency of Nigeria, he must now end his unprofitable bid and go away from any venture that will further pollute the political atmosphere and national harmony.”
