Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has highlighted a number of reasons why Nigerians should not vote for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the ruling party in next February’s presidential election.

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, the special assistant to the former ruling party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the PDP described Tinubu as someone who has a “shifty persona” and “lives in shadowy garb.”

The party, while urging Nigerians to vote for Atiku and return the PDP to power, also described Tinubu, a one-time governor of Lagos State, as “a candidate whose profile is more rooted in inflated edification of disbeliefs.”

The statement, which was in reaction to an earlier news release issued by Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s campaign spokesperson, also lashed out at the APC, describing the ruling party as one that “has pushed Nigeria deeper into the abyss of poverty, insecurity, and indebtedness.”

It also challenged the party that has been at the helm of affairs since May 2015 “to acknowledge one aspect of Nigeria’s national life where they have not reversed the fortunes of the country compared to what was handed to them in 2015.”

Read the full statement below:

“I must confess that I consider this statement a curious endnote to what Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign spokesman, referred to as “A warning to Nigerians.” In the said media release made available to newsmen on Sunday, 11th December, 2022, Onanuga laboured, albeit unsuccessfully, to paint the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate as patently dishonest.

“I am aware that we are in the season of fireworks, when exchange of long-range artillery shells and small arms fire are supposed to dominate political communication in Nigeria but I get the sense that Onanuga went over the top when he described Atiku as “a man who is not prepared for the job he is applying for and a man who cannot be entrusted with our commonwealth.”

“Onanuga’s statement is bad public relations for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, for a good public relations doesn’t consist in attacking a critical public opinion. It seeks to create understanding instead. If you face a PR challenge, like the Tinubu presidential campaign outfit suffers at the moment, talking down to the critical public or an opponent is like approaching a problem by methods that could make it worse.

“It is shameful and unfortunate that all that the APC can rely upon to campaign is what former President Olusegun Obasanjo had said. It is obvious that what the ruling party is hoping to achieve is to continue in their old habit of obfuscation and taking attention of the electorate away from issues that are critical to this election season.

“We will not waste much time to educate the APC and their presidential candidate to note that self-same President Obasanjo has made commendable remarks about Atiku which outdates the old story that they will want recycled to confuse the public.

“However, our reaction to the APC is that currently, their party has pushed Nigeria deeper into the abyss of poverty, insecurity, indebtedness. It will be good to challenge the APC to acknowledge one aspect of Nigeria’s national life where they have not reversed the fortunes of the country compared to what was handed to them in 2015.

“It is for this reason that Nigerians have roundly rejected the ruling party and what the likes of Bayo Onanuga will want to achieve is to fabricate old tales, such that will take attention away from the hardship that the APC has launched on a large percentage of Nigerians.

“The other issue that is critical to this election season is the shifty persona of the presidential candidate of the APC.

“From all available public records, former governor of Lagos State and self-acclaimed national leader of the APC, Ahmed Tinubu lives in shadowy garbs. Tinubu’s identity, education, health continue to be the key issues about what the APC is offering to Nigerians. A candidate whose profile is more rooted in inflated edification of disbeliefs.

“We know that the only reason that the APC is re-presenting an old story about Atiku is because they are aware of the rejection of their party and its presidential candidate by Nigerians.

“On the contrary, Atiku continues to appear with media town hall engagements and assuring Nigerians of his plans to recover the country from the ruins that the APC has made of it.” (The Guardian)

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