Frontline Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential aspirant, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, on Saturday night dismissed rumours that he had stepped down for one of his rivals, attributing the claims to mischief makers.

A statement signed by Sola Atere, Director Media and Publicity of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki Presidential Campaign Organization, made it clear that Turaki had neither pulled out of the race nor was he contemplating doing so.

The statement issued from the PDP Convention venue in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said: “The attention of the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki Presidential Campaign Organization has been drawn to a spurious, misguided and satanic impression being created that he has stepped down for one of the Aspirants in the PDP Presidential primary at the party’s national convention.

“Let it be known LOUD and CLEAR: Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, HAS NOT STEPPED DOWN, HAS NO INTENTION TO STEP DOWN and WILL NEVER STEP DOWN FOR ANY OTHER ASPIRANT, NOT IN THE LEAST, BIRDS OF PASSAGE in the PDP.

“It is sad that such a cruel impression was being created at the eleventh hour of the party’s national convention by unscrupulous personalities and their ilks who are showing a desperation never known to the party in recent times.

“Turaki has so far run a decent campaign which even the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Colonel Akobundu, acknowledged publicly when his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms were returned to the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

“It was this decency that propelled Turaki to refer to his co-Aspirant and Senate President, Bukola Saraki as his brother who shared (?) the same edifying values and passion for Nigeria’s greatness with him when Turaki went on his consultation to Kwara State.

“His position was borne out of Turaki’s close relationship with Bukola’s late father, “Oloye” Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki.

“It was this honest and innocent remark to honour a respected late leader that was now being dubiously manipulated again (this is the second or third time) by discredited people to undermine Turaki.

“Turaki remains the Aspirant to beat, that probably accounted for why arrows are being fired against his aspiration. Luckily, his integrity, credibility, knowledge, intellectual, experience, competence and dynamism had never been questioned.

“These are the attributes that had made former Nigerian leaders – Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – to acknowledge Turaki’s capacity to hold the office which they once held, more so in this era of knowledge-driven governance.

“Besides, elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark and the leaders of the Afenifere and the Middle Belt Forum never hid their admiration for Turaki when he was invited to address them.

“In fact, there were open endorsements by some governors and most of the state executive committees, elders and delegates visited by Turaki’s campaign team in the course of his nationwide consultations.

“Added to these was the open declaration by many state secretariats of the party visited that IT WAS TIME TO REWARD TURAKI FOR HIS LOYALTY TO THE PDP. This was in reference to Turaki joining forces with few members using his resources and legal skill to rescue their party from ‘undertakers’ at a time when latter-day, desperate champions of the party jumped ship and even ensure that the PDP was decimated in the 2015 general elections with the ultimate aim of killing the party.

“How do you expect such a high-profile, decent and visionary person quit a race in which he has the opportunity to greatly redeem the image of the party and attend to the yearnings of Nigerians given his competence?

“In spite of his service and loyalty to the party, Turaki has been humble enough unlike his detractors not to campaign against those who once tried to destroy the soul of PDP.

“May be there is wisdom after all in the position of some of the resilient members who later became Presidential Aspirants that those who once tried to destroy the party should not be allowed to harvest where they did not sow to the extent of trying to destroy the common ‘farm’ (the PDP).

“They have argued that rewarding disloyalty or perfidy may turn out to be the party’s ‘Archilles Heels’.

“Time will certainly tell.”

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