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2023: Atiku, PDP chasing shadows – Tinubu’s Campaign Council

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The APC Presidential Campaign Council has knocked the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, saying they are only chasing shadow in their latest attack on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Phrank Shaibu, an Atiku Abubakar special media assistant, had challenged Tinubu to give his full name and went on a journey of his early education and parentage.

A statement issued by the council and signed by its Director, Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga on Sunday said its attention had been drawn to a statement by one Phrank Shaibu, an Atiku Abubakar special media assistant, whose speciality appears to be muckraking.

It said in another puerile move, Shuaibu challenged its candidate to give his full name and went on a journey of fantasy about his early education and parentage, matters already thrown into the dustbin decades ago.

“We were not surprised that the desperate Atiku camp, faced with mounting setbacks in its campaign, will engage in another round of mudslinging, after it failed to make any capital over its amplified allegation of drug dealing against our candidate. This latest allegation, we must say is another attempt at shadow boxing.

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“Having failed to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians on its 16 years of infamous, criminal sabotage of our fatherland, in which Atiku as the overseer of the privatisation of our national assets programme, shortchanged our people, the PDP has just woken up to the reality that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’ s sure victory in the presidential election of 25 February, 2023 is inevitable.

“Hence this desperate resort to character assassination and innuendoes. If only the PDP would go back to its records, it would have realised that the same campaign of reckless calumny was its stock in trade in the governorship campaigns in Lagos State in 2003. It had also been a subject of investigation by the Lagos State House of Assembly,” the council said.

The council added that “in the 2003 election, the masses in Lagos punished the PDP for its malicious campaign and rejected the party massively at the polling booths.

“It is unfortunate that the party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar have chosen to revive a dead allegation, knowing that this election is again slipping away.

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“Atiku, who once confessed he was the mastermind of the electoral assault by the PDP against the Alliance for Democracy in the 2003 election in the South West , is shamelessly back at his game, showing no contrition that the courts overturned the rigged victories.

“We however sympathise with Atiku and his mudslinging agents. We know why they are lashing on every straw available. They are seized with fear that the election is once again lost.

“With the massive turnout of the Nigerian people to welcome our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Kaduna, Minna, Abuja and other parts of Nigeria in the last one week, it is obvious that they are running after a train that has left the station.

“The Constitution of the Republic is very clear on the rights of a citizen to contest for president. Our candidate has fulfilled those conditions. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the impartial umpire has affirmed that he is qualified to run.

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“But the PDP and Atiku are utterly confused and in serious disarray and running round in circles like a barber’s chair looking for what is not lost,” the council added.

The statement said a responsible party should have taken the cue from its losses, saying that in the last two weeks, no fewer than six cases filed by proxies of the PDP on these same frivolous allegations had been thrown out by the courts.

“Yet like a fly that insists on being buried with the corpse, the media handlers of the PDP prefer to flog a dead horse.

“The over 93 million registered voters who will vote in the 2023 elections have the intellect to choose who they want as president. That man is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yes, that is his name.

“PDP should wait for its day of Judgment rather than engage in this obscurantist, diversionary game, a game that will be determined by the Nigerian masses. We shall surely meet this party of looters at the polls next February,” it said.

Politics

Why Atiku dumped PDP – Wike

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Minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had no option but to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On July 14, Abubakar resigned from the PDP, saying the party has strayed from its founding ideals and is bogged down by “irreconcilable differences”.

Speaking on ‘Politics Today’, a Channels Television programme on Monday, Wike said Abubakar’s exit from the opposition party was inevitable because he could not use the PDP for his personal ambition.

“Atiku has no choice but to leave because he wanted to use the PDP, but knowing that I’m there, he cannot get that platform,” the FCT minister said.

He also accused the former vice-president and other defectors of weakening the party.

“Those are people who destroyed the party,” he said, adding, “How many times has he left PDP and returned?”

Wike also took aim at Douye Diri, governor of Bayelsa, who formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday.

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“Diri has said he has left PDP, and I’m one of the happiest persons today,” he said.

“The same him and Makinde said they would not allow anybody to destroy the PDP and fall to the gutter. Who has entered the gutter today?”

Wike accused Diri of hypocrisy, saying he once branded others “undertakers” trying to bury the PDP but has now joined the APC.

“If I heard what he said, he claimed that some people came into the party as undertakers,” Wike said.

“I didn’t just come into the party; I have been a bona fide member since 1998.”

The minister recounted his political journey, noting that he began his career as a local government chairman and later served as governor of Rivers for eight years.

“When Diri was in PDP, he was one of those who said I was working for APC to destroy PDP,” Wike said.

“He was the chairman of the zoning committee of the party.”

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The former Rivers governor also said Diri should be grateful for his defection.

“If he were to say I am working with APC, Diri should come to me and say, ‘Thank you, master,’” Wike said.

“He should pay me and say, ‘Thank you for opening my eyes to see the light,’ if he were true.”

Wike said his record of loyalty to the PDP remains unquestionable despite the party’s internal wrangling.

“When I was a governor under Buhari, everything was done to kill PDP, but I said no way—I fought,” he said.

“Leadership is key to everything you are doing. Everybody wants to make excuses. The man they claimed is killing PDP is still in the PDP.”

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Interpol arrests 11 leaders of terrorist groups in Nigeria

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The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has arrested 11 suspected “high-level members of several terrorist groups” in Nigeria.

The suspected insurgents were among the 83 persons arrested in six African countries by the international police and AFRIPOL in an operation codenamed ‘Operation Catalyst’.

The six African countries are Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Sudan.

In a statement, Interpol said the two-month operation targeted “terrorism financing and the illegal activity supporting it”, adding that over 15,000 persons of interest and entities were combed.

The Interpol said the operation uncovered $260 million in both fiat and virtual currencies “potentially linked to terrorism-related activities” adding that over $600,000 has been seized.

“Of the 83 arrests, 21 were for terrorism-related crimes, 28 were for financial fraud and money laundering, 16 were linked to cyber-enabled scams and a further 18 were related to the illicit use of virtual assets,” the statement reads.

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“In one significant case from Angola, 25 individuals of multiple nationalities were detained following investigations into informal value transfer systems that were identified as connected to potential terrorist financing and money laundering.

“The operation included the inspection of 30 commercial establishments, where police seized approximately USD 588,000, 100 mobile phones and 40 computers. Sixty bank accounts were also frozen.

“In Kenya, a suspected money laundering operation using a virtual asset service provider was identified as having potential links to terrorism financing.

“The scheme, worth approximately USD 430,000, involved 12 people, two of whom have so far been arrested. In a separate case in Kenya, two individuals were arrested for the online recruitment of young people from East and North Africa into terrorist groups.

“The funds used for the recruitment and radicalization were traced through a cryptocurrency trading platform, back to individuals in Tanzania.

“In Nigeria, the operation led to the arrest of 11 suspected terrorists, including high-level members of several terrorist groups.

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“One notable transnational case involved a massive cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme, which claimed to be a legitimate online trading platform, affected at least 17 countries around the world, including Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria.

“The scheme accumulated more than 100,000 victims around the world, with an estimated loss to victims of USD 562 million.

“The investigations related to Operation Catalyst found that several large-valued wallets were potentially linked to terrorism financing activities. The case is still ongoing, with investigations currently in progress.”

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Notable ADC figures to join APC next week — Yilwatda

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The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Nentawe Yilwatda, has disclosed that “notable figures” from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will be joining the ruling party next week.

Yilwatda spoke on Friday during a meeting with APC stakeholders in Jos, the Plateau state capital.

“Next week, I will be receiving some notable figures from the ADC,” he said.

“Some of those who had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) joined the ADC and are now returning to the APC.

“Many of them have completed their medicals and will be officially unveiled next week.

“In another two weeks, we will unveil yet another big figure who just finished his own medicals.

“He tried to unveil himself the day before yesterday, you probably saw it in the news. But officially, we’ll be receiving him soon.

“More people are coming. More senators, governors, and members of the national assembly are joining. The APC is the bride of the moment.

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“The beauty of APC is that it is a party that welcomes people, regardless of when they join.

“You don’t need to have been in APC from the beginning to rise. I am a testimony to this fact; many others are as well.

“If you join APC today, you are a full member with full rights and privileges. That is the spirit and the letter of our party’s constitution.”

The ruling party has witnessed an uptick in the number of politicians joining its fold ahead of the 2027 elections.

The PDP recently lost several members, including governors, to the APC.

Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, joined the APC this week, with Douye Diri, governor of Bayelsa, reportedly set to formalise his move to the ruling party sooner. 

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