The Presidency has criticized Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, for rejecting the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Atiku as a “demagogue and anarchist” who is seeking to “pull down and delegitimize all the institutions of State”.
“At his press conference where he laboured, in vain, to once again manipulate public opinion and blame the judiciary for his self-inflicted defeat in the 25 February Presidential election, Alhaji Atiku launched a diatribe against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and judiciary, particularly our apex court, for not bending the law and the constitution to satisfy his whims and caprices.
“Atiku tried very hard to perfect his act of misinformation by seeking to lay claim to faux morality and higher ideals when in actual fact his entire life is antithetical to any higher ideals.
“For instance, Atiku claimed he worked along with others to end military rule in Nigeria when he was known to be in bed with the same junta who held democracy hostage and incarcerated his mentor, Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (rtd), till death.
“He distanced himself from him while in detention to keep alive his governorship ambition on the platform of one of those inglorious Abacha political parties.”
Onanuga also accused Atiku of being “uncharitable and pugnacious” in his choice of words about Nigeria, and of holding a “pessimistic view” of the country.
He said that Atiku’s claim that Nigeria is “doomed” is “simply a reflection of his own inordinate ambition”.
“We can only imagine the level of frustration that could make a former Vice President of Nigeria to hold such pessimistic view of a country where he once occupied the second highest position.
“The PDP candidate said Nigeria is doomed just because he failed to achieve his personal ambition.
“We want to tell Alhaji Atiku this: Nigeria is not doomed. It is only Atiku’s inordinate ambition to be President that is doomed. Nigeria is moving forward and set to achieve its manifest destiny as one of the most respected and successful nations of the world under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“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,” be said.
Onanuga also defended the Independent National Electoral Commission and the judiciary, saying they are “thriving and blossoming”.
He said that Atiku’s insistence that INEC’s IReV platform was designed as an online collation center is a “deliberate distortion of facts”.
The spokesman also criticized Atiku for his “fragmented and tattered umbrella” party, saying that it was “impossible” for him to have won the election with it.
Onanuga concluded that Atiku should “end his unprofitable bid” for the presidency and “go away from any venture that will further pollute the political atmosphere and national harmony.”
