Atiku warns Tinubu’s supporters against sponsored protests over EU election report
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PD) has warned supporters of Bola Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress (APC) against disrupting proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPC) where petitioners are seeking Tinubu’s sack as President.
A crowd allegedly hired by Tinubu and the APC protested on July 6 at European Union (EU) head office in Abuja against the final report of the EU Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) on Nigeria’s 2023 election.
The report, released on June 27, criticised the shoddy way the election was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and declared Tinubu’s election as fraught with irregularities. But it made recommendations for improving on future elections.
Tinubu and his camp rejected the report. The INEC said it would study it and work on the recommendations going forward.
Atiku on Sunday issued a statement through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu which said the warning became imperative following the “sponsored protest” by Tinubu’s supporters against the EU-EOM report.
He insisted Tinubu’s supporters staged the protest at the EU head office in Abuja because the report revealed how his election failed the credibility test.
“The EU report had scored the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) low over the handling of the election.
“However, Tinubu’s surrogates, including his spokesman, Dele Alake; former activist, Festus Keyamo, and Femi Fani-Kayode, who had also been implicated in the report, rejected the findings,” the statement said.
“A group of APC supporters, subsequently, stormed the EU headquarters and were given full police protection to carry out the demonstration.
“We seize this opportunity to send a warning to the Tinubu government and its minions against disrupting the proceedings of the election tribunal as they have shown a clear disdain for the truth by picketing the EU office.”
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Atiku cites Tinubu’s history of paying thugs to disrupt court proceedings
“Recall that in 1999, when the late legendary lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, sued Tinubu for school certificate forgery, thugs were sponsored to cause protests outside the court house,” the statement added, per Vanguard.
“Similarly, when Tinubu was facing charges before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, thugs were similarly sponsored to protest at the trial, all in a bid to intimidate the judiciary.
“We find it curious that the same security agencies, which have been issuing statements barring protests, were curiously available to provide cover for sponsored pro-government protesters to picket the EU office.
“We sound a note of warning to the security agencies to be on the alert as the tribunal proceedings wind down. The world is watching.”
Nigeria’s economic woes deepen
Shaibu lamented that in just 40 days of Tinubu’s administration, poverty has deepened and inflation skyrocketed.
He said poverty has made innocent Nigerians susceptible to manipulation, now being exploited by the APC.
“Today, food has become a luxury. The purchasing power of the people has dropped, no thanks to an unplanned petrol subsidy removal, which was not accompanied by any form of palliatives.
“With just N1,000, any riffraff on the street could be handed a T-shirt and placard to engage in protests they know nothing about.
“This is how low Nigeria has sunk since Tinubu took over the reins of government.”
Shaibu accused Tinubu of running a government of hypocrisy by attributing the failures of the APC to select scapegoats while failing to point fingers at former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Tinubu blamed Godwin Emefiele for the country’s economic woes and ordered his detention while he continues to shower praises on the man who not only retained Emefiele but gave him a national award. This is the height of hypocrisy.”