The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has hinted that the visit of its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and his running mate, Alhaji Kashim Shettima to former President Goodluck Jonathan was a fence-mending one, even as it lashed out at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for fanning the “embers of hate and disunity.”
In a reaction to Tinubu and Shettima’s visit to Jonathan last week, the PDP said that “Nigerians have not forgotten how Tinubu callously vilified Dr. Jonathan, spewed hate against his administration and reportedly funded a near riotous protest which was inflamed by concocted economic lies, propaganda, and false statistics to discredit the Jonathan-led PDP administration.”
Recall also that many Nigerians on social media had berated Tinubu and his running mate for the visit because of the bile and vile comments they poured on him prior to the 2015 elections.
But on Monday, the APC spokesman, Barrister Felix Morka said in a statement: “Rattled by the recent statesmanly visit of our Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has hit the panic button in false alarm, saying the move won’t help our candidate and party.
“Again, the PDP proves itself as a party afflicted with chronic myopia, lacking in vision and incapable of recognizing the imperative of elevating the common good of our country above partisan quibbles. That party’s obsession with puerile partisanship blinds it to existential and strategic opportunities to heal old wounds, mend fences, and build bridges of national unity and harmony. Sadly, the PDP would rather fan the embers of hate and division.
“Asiwaju’s consultative visit to the former President was a strategic move for national unity and cohesion, a move worthy of commendation and emulation.
“The infantile outburst on the Asiwaju/Jonathan parley by the same PDP that claims to be on a self-styled mission to unify Nigeria only betrays the party’s extreme hypocrisy and folly.
“The PDP’s track record of 16 years of misrule, corruption and squandermania, remains indelible in the consciousness of Nigerians. Contrary to PDP’s laughable claim that the duo of Asiwaju Tinubu and Sen. Shettima are distancing themselves from President “Buhari’s administration, it is on record that this government deftly managed two economic recessions, and pulled the nation back from the precipice where PDP’s years of atrocious rule left it hanging precariously.
“Our party and its Presidential Candidate are seeking the mandate of Nigerians to consolidate on the foundation of restoration and greatness that has been laid across all sectors by the Buhari administration. The PDP and it’s co-peddlers of hate and disunity cannot stop this noble aspiration.”