The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has vowed that those ganging up against him in the battle to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming election would be defeated.
Atiku, who spoke through the Spokesperson, PDP Presidential Campaign Management Committee, Dino Melaye, also accused the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of masterminding the crisis rocking the PDP.
Recall that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, yesterday, lambasted the former vice president, Atiku and the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, and vowed to continue the fight until his demands are met.
Wike, who was defeated by Atiku during the May 29 primary election, had demanded the resignation of Ayu as the only condition to work for Atiku’s victory come 2023.
But according to a statement by Dino, titled “No Shortcut To Victory”, the campaign spokesperson said Atiku is currently suffering persecution because he chose to be a democrat by not forcing Ayu to resign.
The statement added that Atiku would continue to support the “enthronement of strong institutions that can minimise the excesses of political goliaths”, stressing that as it happened to Goliath in the biblical story, “strong men get defeated, no matter the length of their domination”.
The statement reads, “the hawkers of spin in the camp of Ahmed Bola Tinubu are at it again, this time latching on to a debatable forecast to award victory to a delusional candidate who claimed that the presidency of Nigeria is a categorical entitlement.
“The Palace jesters are gloating over the orchestrated amplification of the agitation by some members of our Party to sing a dirge, forgetting that advocacy is not only normal in a democracy, their very idol went riotous and danced naked in desperation when he sensed that the ticket of his discredited and failed political party was eluding him.
“Through a sheer arrogance, impudence and indiscretion, Bayo Onanuga the mouth piece of the hallucinators and hawkers of illusion took the place of INEC by declaring a loss of election for the most promising flagbearer in the 2023 Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar. May the self-acclaimed rivals of God be reminded that power belongs to God?
“In any case, the polemics being celebrated was an indictment against Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who regardless of the status and efforts of APC leaders like Rotimi Amaechi was hawking the Senatorial ticket in an insensitive and indecorous manner. In the end his power excursion lu’le. This is what Atiku will not do. It is, in fact, for the defence of democracy and respect for due process that Atiku is now being persecuted.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku as a long standing democrat will not sacrifice those elected by the Party for his own ambition, just to please autocratic democrats. If by chance he loses the support of some party members on account of adhering to the rules, he would be satisfied that he acted right.
“Waiting to benefit from the internal synthesis that may play out in the PDP is a wait in futility. The tears of opposition are only flowing from the demonstrable capacity of Atiku for political sagacity.
“This contest will be a long hull. No shortcut, no award and no conferment of entitlement. Kaka ‘eyin ko lokan’”.