2 months ago
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The media adviser to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has said that Atiku’s presidency would have ushered in prosperity.
Recall that, former PDP deputy chairman (South), Chief Bode George on Friday argued that Nigeria would have faced turmoil if Atiku had won the 2023 presidential election.
He stated, “If Atiku had won — I would have stayed in my house because I knew that for real, in the future, he would collapse. This country would never accept.
“If he had won that election, you think this country would have been stable? Because somebody from the North (Buhari) had just finished eight years and our own norm is that after the eight years, the presidential candidate must come to the South.”
However, in a statement released on Saturday, Ibe responded by asserting that an Atiku presidency would have protected Nigeria’s interests, avoiding the favoritism, prejudice, and lawlessness allegedly associated with the current administration.
The statement read in part “Contrary to Chief Bode George’s imprudent talk, an @atiku presidency would have heralded an era of prosperity, driven by a cabinet brimming with seasoned and adept individuals, chosen solely on merit regardless of their background or beliefs.
“Such leadership would have safeguarded Nigeria’s interests, steering clear of the bigotry and nepotism and brigandage that characterizes this administration. Instead of the current state of disarray, driven by haphazard policies, Nigeria would have thrived under Atiku’s guidance.
“In contrast, we see Bode George, who once threatened exile, should Tinubu ascend to power, now oddly silent about the present administration. Is Bode’s reticence because Atiku is not from his region? It is prudent to consider Bode’s opinions with caution.”
Meanwhile, the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP during the 2023 governorship election in Ogun State, Adekunle Akinlade, said calamity would have befallen the state if he and his running mate, Ladi Adebutu, had won the 2023 election,.
Akinlade, who said unknowing to him that their defeat at the poll was God trying to prevent the state from imminent misrule, added that it would have been a sad and devastating period for the state, Akinlade said this to newsmen on Saturday in Abeokuta.
Adebutu and Akinlade ran on a joint ticket in the March 18, 2023 election but lost to the incumbent, Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Dissatisfied with the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the PDP candidate dragged Abiodun to the tribunal but lost the legal battle up to the Supreme Court.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Akinlade described Adebutu’s defeat in the controversial election as a “calamity averted” on the people of the state.
In his address tagged ‘Divine power of prayers that averts calamity’, made available to the Sunday PUNCH, “ Akinlade narrated how an Imam had prayed for the PDP campaign team that God should not grant the opposition party a victory in 2023 if it would bring sorrow and backwardness to the State,” Akinlade said in his strong worded statement.
He said, “In hindsight, I say, alhamdulillah that Allah averted that calamity from befalling Ogun State. Had Ladi emerged as the winner, it would have been a sad and devastating time for us as a people.
“In His glory and majesty, Allah grants a woman the grace to conceive keeps her in good health all through the nine months, set HIS face upon her to deliver the child, then take the infant’s life a minute after.
“As mortals, we will cry with anguish and ask what sin did the child commit to deserve such? We forget that he that gives takes for a purpose.”
Efforts to get Adebutu to speak were futile as repeated calls put across to his phone were not picked up.
He also didn’t respond to a text message of inquiry sent to him by our correspondent.
But Adebutu’s Media Aide, Afolabi Orekoya, described Akinlade as a “petty and terrible ingrate.”
Orekoya said, “We will not engage in his pettiness. But one thing I can assure you is, anything that he feels he can use to blackmail us, he should please go ahead. At the appropriate time, we will give him proper attention and respond.
“Akinlade is the most unfortunate thing that happened to the Ogun PDP. And we were warned by Former Governor Ibikunle Amosun, but we didn’t listen.”
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