Atiku condemns Buhari’s alleged ‘divisive’ tendencies

Former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described as unfortunate and condemnable the bid by President Muhammadu Buhari to introduce divisive strategies in the Nigerian polity as a means of realising his reelection ambition.

In a statement released through his campaign organisation, yesterday, Atiku said he was not surprised that Buhari could adopt divisive strategy as reaction to his endorsement by the Southeast.

The statement read: “We recall with great sadness, that when he was invited to speak at the United States Institute for Peace on July 22, 2015, President Buhari said, “The constituencies, for example, that gave me 97 percent votes cannot in all honesty be treated equally on some issues with constituencies that gave me five percent.

“Three years after making that statement, President Buhari has shown that he has not changed. Even his meeting was with a ‘select group of Southeast leaders.’ Nigerians should compare the President’s meeting with that of Atiku Abubakar on November 14, 2018.”

Reacting to the President’s remark on PDP’s performance during its 16-year regime, Atiku said: “We want to remind the President that under the PDP, Nigeria was rated the happiest nation on earth, by Gallup Polls and other rating agencies, not once, but twice. Alas, under President Buhari’s administration, Nigeria has officially been named the world headquarters for extreme poverty not once, but twice, by the World Poverty Clock and the World Economic Forum.