The Director of Strategic Communications for the Buhari 2019 Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has slammed the opposition for condemning the decision of a group to purchase APC presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group, Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN), paid the N45 million required to purchase the forms for Buhari on Wednesday.
But in a Thursday statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the group’s action contravened Section 91(9) of the Electoral Act which provides that “no individual or other entity shall donate more than One million naira (#1,000,000) to any candidate.
Read Also: PDP Mocks Buhari Over “Failed” N45m Form Purchase Stunt
However, Keyamo, a senior lawyer, accused the opposition of reading the section “upside down”.
In a series of tweets via his verified Twitter handle on Friday morning, Keyamo said that “the section limits CASH (not material) donations in respect of CANDIDATES to N1m. PMB (Buhari) is not a CANDIDATE. He’s an aspiring ASPIRANT. He becomes an ASPIRANT only when he submits his Forms to his Party.”
In the same vein, Keyamo accused the opposition of being “hell-bent on returning (Nigeria) to the old order of meager infrastructure, but heavy handouts”.
He tweeted, “Some mischievous persons are reading Section 91(9) of the Electoral Act upside down. The section limits CASH (not material) donations in respect of CANDIDATES to N1m. PMB is not a CANDIDATE. He’s an aspiring ASPIRANT. He becomes an ASPIRANT only when he submits his Forms to his Party.
“Same people that said nothing last week when a group ‘donated’ nomination FORMS to a ‘crying’ opposition aspirant (Atiku Abubakar) are now descending on PMB and misquoting the law. It’s more honorable to openly support a candidate of your choice than hiding behind one finger and looking ridiculous.
“The situation we have in Nigeria is that the REAL oppressors of the masses are struggling to pose as their saviours whilst they seek to paint the REAL saviours as the oppressors. They’re using fake news, propaganda, etc, to paint this picture. All they want is to sneak back to power.
“If the masses have d opportunity to hear in private why some power elite oppose PMB, they would be shocked to their marrows that it has nothing to do with good governance. It’s all about ‘how has this govt benefitted me?!’ Some of us they speak with in private just can’t buy that.
“There is a sickening gang-up of some pseudo-religious leaders, pseudo-journalists & pseudo-professionals , posing as opinion moulders, who benefited from the largesse of the old system who are hell-bent on returning to the old order of meager infrastructure, but heavy handouts.
“Some of us are prepared to be misunderstood, abused and maligned by a few for the position we have taken today about the future of our country because we see behind the scenes and WE KNOW THE TRUTH. It is better to be vindicated by posterity than to be applauded wrongly at the moment.
“Let’s be clear that the present government may not have gotten EVERY decision right or taken EVERY step right since 2015, but we urge Nigerians to put the sincerity and personal integrity of Mr. President on an overall scale against those of his opponents in 2019 and see where the scale tilts.”