The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would soon retrieve his mandate from him at the court.
The party advised the president against showboating over the outcome of the February 23 presidential election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said that the Buhari administration’s continued blame game and resort to arrest of opposition figures were tantamount to admitting rigging the election.
The statement read, “It indeed speaks volumes that President Buhari, in his claimed integrity and anti-corruption stance, is grandstanding over the violent rigging of the elections and his attempt to foist himself into a second term in office on the pedestal of stolen votes.
“President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress, APC, should know that the PDP and Nigerians are focused and will not be distracted by any sort of blackmail in the pursuit of the mandate and we are confident that our justices will never allow an illegitimate government to sit over the affairs of our dear nation.
“Moreover, if anybody has a question to answer on the administration of the nation’s resources, it is President Buhari, who has not been able to offer any explanation on the looting of over N14 trillion from revenue generating agencies in a space of three years under his direct supervision.
“We ask; was it the PDP that siphoned over N9 trillion, through underhand contracts, as detailed in the leaked Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, memo, in the same sector President Buhari directly supervises as Minister of Petroleum Resources?
“Was it the PDP that stole the over N1.1 trillion worth of crude illegally lifted and diverted with 18 unregistered companies in 2017; the over N1.4 trillion in fraudulent oil subsidy regime and many more scams, including funds meant for the welfare of victims of insurgency in the North East under the Buhari administration?
“Whereas the PDP administrations created wealth and applied our national resources on massive infrastructural development in all critical sectors; paid off our huge foreign and domestic debts and grew our economy to be one of fastest growing in the world, President Buhari, within a space of three years ran our economy into recession and cannot point to any development project his administration initiated and completed despite the huge opportunities at his disposal.
“President Buhari must note that Nigerians are no longer interested in his incompetence and blame game and this is the very reason they voted massively against him on February 23. He should therefore end his diversionary tactics and get ready to meet the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in court.”