The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has raised the alarm over ‘credible threats’ to the lives of key of his supporters within the context of a dastardly plot being engineered by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the face of imminent defeat at next week’s presidential poll.
In a statement issued in Abuja Thursday by Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the PDP Presidential Candidate said his close political associates were being targeted for arrest by the APC-led federal government, which is hell bent on derailing the electoral process.
”The architects of this plot believe that unless the APC destabilises the main opposition party and gets rid of the key associates of the PDP Presidential Candidate, President Buhari’s plan to clinch a second term in office will be in jeopardy, especially as they are afraid – for obvious reasons that the President has become unpopular and won’t be re-elected at the poll.
”The first step in this desperate plot is to arrest some of our associates using the EFCC with others soon to follow, based on a list that has been drawn up by the cabal,” the statement said.
Atiku said the linchpin of the plot is a governor of an APC controlled state in the North West working in tandem with a prominent minister in President Buhari’s cabinet and the leadership of the ruling party.
”The cooked intelligence report concluded that all means must be used to stop Atiku. Reading between lines, the measures being advocated in the report could only be to frame his associates for money laundering, creation of chaos and anarchy to pave the way for the derailing of the electoral process, which will ultimately lead to the emergence of an interim national government,” the statement said.
It added that the PDP presidential candidate was not surprised that the President and his handlers had gone into panic mode since the results of polls conducted by Williams and Associates indicated that Atiku would win next week’s presidential election.
“The firm said majority of voters in the Buhari’s own geopolitical zone of the north-west believe Atiku will be the next president, as do the voters in every other single geopolitical region, every age group, every religion and in urban and rural areas. Even the majority of APC voters by 56% to 38% think Atiku will win.”
Atiku said having experienced four tortuous years of the B team, the minds of Nigerians are now made up: they want the A Team.
While urging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the plotters to desist from any act that will further threaten the tenuous peace and security in the country,Atiku reminded them to learn from history.
‘’We also warn the security and anti-graft agencies to be independent and not to allow themselves to be used for political gains. They should put national interest above partisan interest, and remember that the President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC gang are not synonymous with the Nigerian nation. Buhari is just a bull in china shop that will soon be ejected by the peoples’ votes on February 16,” Atiku said.
