Despite the denial of a venue to hold its mega rally in Abuja, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to hold the event, warning that any more assault on its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will draw dire consequences from Nigerians.
The spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbodiyan, who made this assertion at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, also said that the more Atiku is attacked by the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), the more widespread his support becomes.
The main opposition party had raised alarm on Friday that even though it had paid for the Old Parade Ground, Abuja and had been approved for use for the mega rally, the authorities wrote back to say it was no longer available.
He said the attack directed against the party and its candidate are “the last kicks of a dying horse, which the Buhari Presidency now represents.”
The party spokesman stated: “It is part of the plot by the frustrated President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to drag the PDP and the people’s candidate to their low level of frustration in order to enmesh the coming election into crisis so as to achieve their self-succession bid.
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“We invite the world to note that this latest assault against the people’s candidate is also borne out of direct ill-will and hatred against him by President Muhammadu Buhari as well as his handlers, who have sought all ways to drag him down, since they realized that Nigerians have reached a consensus on Atiku Abubakar, as the next President of our country.
“Atiku Abubakar, being a true democrat and statesman has decided to go with the people in their collective quest to rescue our nation from the vengeful, divisive, violent prone, insensitive, completely incompetent and inherently corrupt Buhari administration.”
The PDP cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to note that with the level of consensus Atiku enjoys throughout the country and even across the world, “any assault on him is a direct assault on the overall aspiration and sensibilities of Nigerians as a whole.”
He further said: “We, therefore, need to restate that the more the Buhari Presidency attacks the people’s candidate, the more his support base among Nigerians expands.
“However, any further attack on our campaign will, therefore, attract very dire response from Nigerians who look up to Atiku Abubakar to salvage our dear nation from the social, economic and political despondency, which President Buhari has plunged her into.
“From reports reaching us, it is not also out of place for the Buhari Presidency and the APC to use this measure to test the will of Nigerians as a precursor to their rigging plots.
“We want to place on record, once again that any attempt to rig the February 16 election will be vehemently resisted by Nigerians, across the board, who have reached a consensus to rescue their nation from the stranglehold of the Buhari Presidency.
“In any case, let it be known to President Buhari and the APC that the PDP and the people’s candidate will definitely hold our Presidential mega rally in Abuja irrespective of any further encumbrance they may attempt to foist. Nigeria belongs to all of us and nobody can stop us from exercising our constitutionally guaranteed right of holding our rally in the FCT or any other part of our country for that matter.”