The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday told Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, to direct his frustration at President Muhammadu Buhari, who they reminded him “he aptly described as an incompetent, old fashioned, corrupt, insensitive, parochial and tyrannical leader, who should not be voted into office,” instead of seeking to incite violence in the country.
The opposition party also noted that “el-Rufai’s threats that members of
global democratic institutions working towards peaceful 2019 general
elections in our country will return in body bags, has raised new
questions regarding those behind the killing of expatriates and aid
workers in various troubled parts of the country.”
The party said it was “quite revealing that el-Rufai, who exposed Gen. Buhari in 2010 as ‘unelectable’ is now prancing about in defence of Buhari’s incompetent and anti-democratic administration, to the extent of issuing death threats to others, just to secure his place under a dictatorial
administration.”
The statement by the national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondinyan, recalled that “Governor el-Rufai had in 2010 described Gen. Buhari as ill- equipped for modern day governance. He berated Gen. Buhari for lacking the capacity to comprehend current trends, to the extent that he would think that a “blackberry was a fruit.”
PDP quoted el- Rufai’s comments in detail.
“In his reply to Gen. Buhari’s response to his earlier criticisms,
el-Rufai stated: “Mallam El-Rufai wishes to remind General Buhari that
he has remained perpetually unelectable because his record as military
head of state, and afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have
wisely heeded. His insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity and his
parochial focus are already well-known.
“In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases belonging to his ADC’s father to
enter Nigeria unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old
currency for new…..
“Buhari was so high- handed that he gave himself and his officials
immunity even from truthful reporting. That obnoxious Decree 4, against
which truth was no defence, was used to jail journalists and attempt to
cow the media as a whole. That tyrannical legislation shows the essence
of his intolerance. These are facts of recent history. The story of
counter-trade and import licensing, the cornerstone of Buhari’s
stone-age economic strategy and those whose interests it served, is a
tale for another day.”
The leading opposition party said, “Today, President Buhari’s inept and colossally corrupt administration has wrecked our once robust economy, divided our nation, instituted executive high-handedness, violation of human rights, incessant breach of our constitution, disobedience of court order, assaults on our democratic institutions, clamp down of the media and dissenting voices, a scenario that has brought so much pain and anguish for Nigerians.
“Governor el-Rufai’s venom should therefore be directed towards President
Buhari, who has brought so much pain to Nigerians and of course himself,
for his own insensitivity to Nigerians and his support for anti-democratic tendencies of the Buhari administration.”