The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians are no longer interested in fake promises and false performance claims, now that elections are around the corner.

The party said the attempt by the Buhari Presidency to lure the South-East geo-political zone into supporting his second term fell like a pack of cards as the people have resolved not to follow any leader who cannot deliver on his promises.

PDP added that President Buhari and the APC have been jittery since the South-East and other geo-political zones across board expressed an overwhelming acceptance of the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, “due to his proven competence, respect for equity and all-inclusiveness in governance”.

A statement issued on Thursday by PDP Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said: “Instead of accepting his failure, which is manifest to all, President Buhari, who is reputed for not fulfilling campaign promises, is busy making a fresh list of fake promises to Nigerians.

“In this desperation, Mr. President fails to understand that the people of the South East, just like other Nigerians, are too sophisticated to fall for gimmicks, false promises and ethnic politics, and as such cannot be swayed from their resolve to rally with Atiku Abubakar to rescue our nation from the shackles of misrule.

“Nigerians have since seen through President Buhari’s bouquet of failures and fake promises, which in any case, cannot heal the wounds of marginalisation, nepotism, inequity, disregard for federal character principle and harsh economic policies, including obnoxious foreign exchange regulations and heavy taxations of his administration, which are killing businesses and plunging families into extreme poverty.”

The statement further said: “Nigerians, including those in the South East, know that President Buhari does not keep promises. They know that he has not fulfilled any of the promises he made during the 2015 campaign. As such, they cannot fall to the same old trick ahead of the 2019 general election.

“Moreover, President Buhari is yet to apologise to the Southeast and other geo-political zones over his administration’s indictment for human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, arbitrary detention, torture and reported disappearances, as detailed in the reports by the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI).

“Instead of clutching on straws and seeking to beguile Nigerians with fake promises, blame game and false performance indices, President Buhari should come to terms with the fact that there is no way Nigerians can change their minds about voting in Atiku Abubakar as his inevitable replacement come February, 2019.”

PDP commended Nigerians across board “for their boldness in confronting President Buhari with his failures and their resolve not to be beguiled again in the 2019 elections”.

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