Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress said today that the rash of anti-Buhari court cases instituted by some persons were meant to scuttle the general elections next month, evoking memories of the Association of Better Nigeria, that used a late night court injunction to annul the 1993 June 12 election.
APC national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the allegation today at a press conference in Lagos, drawing attention to four cases filed to stop the party’s presidential candidate, Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari.
” At the last count, at least four cases have been filed by those who are undoubtedly fronting for the PDP and the Presidency, and all are working towards the same goal: Stop Buhari, Scuttle next month’s elections. We expect more cases to be filed in pursuit of this ignominious objective,” Mohammed said.
He described the legal moves as signs of desperation, saying that the PDP has been in disarray since the emergence of Buhari as the party’s candidate on 11 December.
“Indeed, Gen. Buhari has become the nightmare for the ruling party and the Presidency, to such an extent that their entire electioneering campaign now dwells on one and one issue only: the person of Gen. Buhari.
“First, they said things will unravel for the candidate and his party over the choice of a Vice Presidential Candidate, but not only did this evil prediction fail, a VP candidate who has been widely acclaimed as the best choice for the party and the country, in the person of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, emerged, further pushing the naysayers into sheer trepidation.
“Next, they engaged in scandal mongering, that our candidate is not qualified to run because he did not have the pre-requisite qualification. In fact, they so much believed their own lies that they swore to have found a fool-proof way to stop Gen. Buhari. Then their house of lies collapsed when it was proven beyond doubt that our candidate sat for and passed his Cambridge Examination.
“Not knowing what to do next, they procured a forged medical certificate from the ‘Ahmadu Bello University hospital’ of their warped imagination, that our candidate is suffering from prostate cancer, but their 419 certificate had barely been unveiled before it was disowned by the authentic Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital. Again, the web of lies woven by the PDP and the Presidency unraveled before their very eyes.
“Not knowing what next to do, they turned their campaign rallies to a Buhari-bashing event, pushing issues to the back burner. Those who lacked even a scintilla of integrity, those who are an embodiment of incompetence and cluelessness, and those who need reformation in the aftermath of their self-inflicted, indulgence-induced phrenic impairment all went into a frenzy in an attempt to demonize a man whose integrity, decency and honesty are legendary. They produced and aired documentaries that are based, 99%, on lies and twisted facts. But this too boomeranged. The more they pound him, the higher Gen. Buhari soars.
“Now they have moved to the last frontier in their stop-Buhari-at-all-cost campaign: Using the courts. After manipulating some elements of the judiciary workers to embark on strike to stop the courts from hearing cases that could be detrimental to their presidential candidate, the same puppeteers again manipulated the elements to end the strike, so they can kick-start their last strategy. As I said earlier, at least four cases have been filed, all aimed at one and one objective only: Stop Gen. Buhari.”
Mohammed said the stop-Buhari-at-all-cost campaign is being pursued simultaneously with the push to postpone next month elections, ostensibly because of the low level of PVC distribution, “but in the real sense an implementation of the stated mindset of the presidency never to hand over to Gen. Buhari, and then of course set up an interim government”
According to Mohammed , the rumour mill is spinning fast.
“Stories abound of a huge war chest of 100 million dollars being earmarked to grease the palm of any pliable Judge who can disqualify Gen. Buhari and halt the electoral process. We do not know whether or not this allegation is true, but we do know that Nigerians do not want to return to ‘Egypt’. We have been down this road before with disastrous consequences, and we do not want to tread that path again. Never before has so much been deployed just to stop the candidacy of just one man!”
Mohammed also raised a number of posers for the PDP leadership to answer: Why are you so frightened by Gen. Buhari’s candidacy for the office of the President? Why are you so terrified of facing Gen. Buhari at the polls? Why have you been engaging in a clandestine campaign to postpone the elections, when on the other hand you claim to be ready? If Gen. Buhari ran in 2003, 2007 and 2011, and there was never an issue with his meeting the pre-requisite qualification, why have you made it an issue now? Is it because you have realized that he is poised to shellack President Jonathan at the polls? Why is an interim government an option when Nigerians are willing and eager to vote next month?