Tinubu analyzes 'six lies' in Atiku's recent interview, lambasts PDP candidate [Full statement]

Daily Post

The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has accused his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, counterpart, Atiku Abubakar of lying in his recent interview.

DAILY POST recalls that Atiku, former Nigerian Vice President who was featured on Arise TV on Friday, spoke on several issues bedeviling the nation particularly in regards to the forthcoming presidential elections.

Atiku had during the TV programme, alleged that he declined Tinubu’s move to be his running mate in 2007 over the same faith ticket.

He asserted that when he got the presidential ticket of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in 2007, Tinubu, one of the founders of the party, insisted to be his running mate but he declined in a bid to avoid having a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Atiku further opined that his stand against the Muslim-Muslim ticket formed the fundamental disagreement between him and Asiwaju from 2007 till date.

However, a statement issued on Saturday by the Director, Media & Communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku’s response to questions during the interview indicated that he is not ready for the job.

The statement pointed out six areas the PDP candidate allegedly lied.

Full statement reads:

Mr Presidential candidate: Lincoln did not contest US Presidency five or six times, Takeaways from Atiku Abubakar bungled interview on ARISE Television

We have watched Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s interview on ARISE Television and were extremely shocked by the many lies and ignorance displayed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.

“In the interview, Alhaji Atiku exposed himself as a man who is not prepared for the job he is applying for and a man who can not be entrusted with our commonwealth. He was flippant in his response to important questions about his record of service and how he made money while serving in Customs. He muddled up facts and exhibited befuddling absence of mind.

“Here are our takeaways from the bungled interview:

1. PDP candidate is a law breaker: It was most shocking Atiku admitted that he cheated the system for decades and engaged in gross misconduct as a government worker. As a customs officer at the Idi-Iroko border, Atiku revealed that he ran a commercial taxi service, claiming ‘there is no law stopping public officers from doing business in Nigeria”. He punched harder, claiming there is no conflict of interest in doing so.

We found this to be untrue.

Every officer in the civil service is expected to comply with a code of conduct and service rules which bar civil and public servants from engaging in private business while in government employment to the detriment of the service he/she is employed to render to the public. The 1999 constitution further codifies this in Part I, Fifth Schedule, Section of 2 (b).

It says a public officer shall not, except where he is not employed on full-time basis engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade. The rules however allow a public officer to engage in farming.

We wonder which rule or which law Atiku was relying upon for his gross misconduct as a public officer. It is our considered view that Atiku gamed the system all through his career in public service, culminating in his founding of the Intel Logistics along with Late Shehu Yar’Adua and some Italians, even while he was still in the employment of the Nigeria Customs Service…