VP oath-taking allegation: APC, PDP in war of words

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) have again picked up the gauntlet over the allegation by the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) that a former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “plans to replace the vice-presidential candidate of the APC, Professor Yemi Osinbajo in the unlikely event that the APC wins the March 28 presidential election,” after six months.

This is just as the ruling party insisted that there was, indeed, a plan to supplant the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate if the party wins the election, to enable “Tinubu to come to power through the back door.”

The PDPPCO, in a statement on Saturday signed by the Director of Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, insisted that the former Lagos Governor could not defend himself on the charge.

But the APC denied the claim that Osinbajo would resign as the vice-president for Tinubu to step in, noting the claim was designed to divert attention from the runaway success of Buhari at the Chatham House in London, last Thursday.

In a statement issued from London by its spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said:

 ‘’Our presidential candidate’s globally-acclaimed outing has presented Nigerians, and indeed the global community, with a choice between a bumbling, ineffective, incoherent, clueless, visionless and incompetent President and an assertive, knowledgeable, dignified, purposeful and principled President-in-waiting.

“Having failed to discredit that outing with a rented crowd, some of whom confessed to have been paid to carry placards they do not even understand, the PDP and the Jonathan administration have now resorted to making nauseating claims that are totally untrue, absolutely incomprehensible and nothing but sheer bunkum,” the APC maintained.

But the PDPPCO spokesman pooh-poohed the defence put up by Mohammed on the matter, describing it as feeble and untenable, saying:

 “From the APC response, it is clear that they have something to hide.  They clearly cannot deny this dangerous plot.   Does a vampire ever admit to being a vampire? Did Dr. Jeckyll ever tell anyone that he was also Mr. Hyde? Does a demon ever admit to being a demon? Does darkness ever admit to being darkness? Do people that are obsessed with taking power at all costs and by any means ever admit that they are obsessed and desperate?

“We are not surprised by the denials of the APC in this matter. They are and will always be a party that is built on lies and that is headed by liars. The APC is now throwing stones and hurling baseless allegations and insults at our president, our leaders and our party. They forget that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

However, APC said the PDP’s claim was the latest in a series of desperate moves by the PDP and the Jonathan administration since Buhari emerged as the APC’s presidential candidate, and the clearest indication yet that they had no answer to the unstoppable momentum of a man of history.

‘’They have thrown everything imaginable at Gen. Buhari, but he has continued to wax stronger and stronger: They said he was not qualified, that he was too old, then they fabricated a medical report of an illness of their own choice, sponsored death wish adverts against him and instituted a myriad of court cases to stop him.

‘’After they failed to stop him, they went after the election itself, using the PVCs as a tool to launch a campaign for postponement and, when they realised that would not work, came up with the bogey of insecurity in the North-east to force a postponement of the election, hoping they can buy enough time to revive their electoral misfortune.

But the PDP, in its reaction, said: “We stand by our claims and the only thing that is outlandish in this matter is the bizarre and insatiable lust for power of the APC and those that are premising their presidential ambition on someone else’s demise.

“Such morbid projections have no place in any civilised society. The truth is that the APC is a party that is used to sordid, bizarre, byzantine and subterranean back-room deals where people take blood-chilling and cultic oaths and in which people are asked to sign perjurous and illegal letters of resignation even before they are elected into office. If anyone doubts that they should ask Pastor Tunde Bakare who was asked to sign a letter of resignation by both Tinubu and Buhari in 2011 even when he had not been elected to the exalted position of vice-president. We stand by our claim and we warn the APC and their leaders to stop playing Russian roulette with the destiny of the Nigerian people. We also counsel them to stop playing voodoo politics. 

They can be rest assured that any arrangement or back room deal that is outside the democratic process and that is outside the will of the Nigerian people will be resisted. They must not throw our country into yet another round of crisis, turmoil, instability and uncertainty by entering into and attempting to enforce any sordid and unacceptable resignation pact which is designed to eventually usher in Bola Tinubu as president,” the PDP stated.

Tribune