The allegation that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar hired a US lobbying firm to convince the United States not to recognise the re-election of President Buhari has continued to garner reaction from the public.
Although, Atiku has denied the allegation describing it as mere fabrications against him.
But,
the Federal Government has asked the presidential candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar to allow the court to determine
the merits or otherwise of his petition against the winner of the 2019
presidential election in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari.
The
warning came on the heels of some political developments in the country
that bring back the memory of the campaign period that many
controversies were heating up the polity.
According
to The Punch, the Federal Government said it was wrong for the former
Vice President to resort to self-help in his desire to claim victory in
the election.
Minister
of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, who stated this at a
media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, also condemned the resurgence of
posters bearing the picture of Atiku, with the inscription:”THE PUKKA,
H.E. ATIKU ABUBAKAR, THE REAL AND THE RIGHT”, which have surfaced across
major streets in Abuja.
“The
appearance of these posters coincide with the media report that Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar has hired a US lobbying firm to convince the United
States not to recognise the re-election of President Buhari until the
Supreme Court has ruled on the suit by the PDP presidential candidate,”
the minister said.
Recall
that Atiku had earlier denied paying a United States lobby group $30,
000 to persuade the US Congress to stop the May 29 inauguration of
President Muhammadu Buhari.
The
Buhari Campaign Group had alleged that Atiku paid the group to push for
his recognition as the winner of the February 23 presidential election,
which he lost to incumbent President Buhari.
In
his reaction, the former Vice President instead insisted that the APC
was using the lie about hiring US lobbyists to discourage him from
challenging President Buhari’s victory in court.
In
a statement yesterday by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, the PDP
candidate accused the Buhari group of fabricating what he described as
“shameless lies and dirty propaganda” against Atiku.
The statement added that lying has become a culture to the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration and therefore, adding that the Atiku camp was not surprised by the latest diversionary allegations.
It
added that since Atiku resisted pressure not to go to court, the APC
has been behaving like “a cat on hot bricks” because the outcome of the
2019 elections has exposed and shattered the facade of their “dubious
integrity”.
The statement said: “The APC are behaving nervously like a thief living under the fear of being exposed and shamed. They are now using fake news against Atiku instead of focusing on defending themselves in the court.
“For a party that has broken the worst record in election rigging, the APC doesn’t have any iota of integrity to be taken seriously by anybody. Atiku’s
court case has become their biggest burden because it exposes their
integrity as a sham, and instead of defending their stolen mandate in
court, they are now using fake news to divert public attention from the
historic electoral heist they have committed against Nigerians”.
The
statement added that no amount of diversionary propaganda and fake news
campaign by APC will stop Atiku Abubakar from continuing the court
action he started to reclaim the “stolen mandate”.
The case Atiku initiated against Buhari
has been attraction serious attention. Meanwhile, more controversies are
still trailing the outcome of the presidential election despite the
fact that the matter is in court.
Nigerians and the world are watching to see what the judgment of the court will be at the end of it all.
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