Atiku endorsed Muslim-Muslim ticket – Tinubu

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has said that his PDP counterpart, Atiku Abubakar endorsed the same faith ticket.

According to him, Atiku once begged him to be his running mate.

Tinubu said through the Director, Media and Communication of his campaign organization, Mr Bayo Onanuga.

He said, “Atiku, ever an expert in not telling the truth, also did not come clean over his once-upon a time preference for same-faith ticket.

“In 1993, after Atiku and Kingibe lost to MKO Abiola in the SDP presidential primary in Jos, Atiku was the choice of the Yar’Adua camp to become Abiola’s running mate.

“Abiola overlooked him and picked the more cerebral diplomat and bureaucrat, Babagana Kingibe. In all the tonnes of biographies written about him, there was nowhere he said he opposed Shehu Yar’Adua’s support for his candidacy as Abiola’s VP.

“He was not against it, since it favoured him. Now, it is politically convenient and opportunistic for him to oppose Tinubu-Shettima ticket.

“Political Credentials: Most reprehensible was Atiku’s lies about how many times he ran to become the governor of Adamawa or old Gongola state.

“Mr. Presidential candidate, in case you don’t know, you run for an office only when you are on the ballot in an election. Your signifying interest in an office does not mean the same as running for the office.

“From available records, the first time you contested the governorship election in your state was in 1999. Your name entered the ballot for the first time and you won.

“Poor grasp of history: Atiku Abubakar also exhibited poor knowledge of history when he claimed that Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s famous leaders, contested the presidency five to six times before he eventually won.

“This is a beer parlour tale that has been recycled over time. Lincoln contested U.S. presidency twice. He ran in 1860 and 1864 and won both, before he was assassinated on 15 April, 1865.

“The false story about Lincoln’s failed presidential bids sprang from his previous failed state and national elections, from his state of Illinois. They were not the same as America’s presidential election.

“According to historians, Lincoln lost his first election in 1832 for Illinois state legislature. In 1834, he ran again and won.

“In 1843 he ran for Congress. He lost. Three years after in 1846, Lincoln ran for Congress again – this time he won and went to Washington.

“From established history, in 1848 Lincoln ran for re-election to Congress and lost. In 1854, he ran for Senate of the United States. He lost. Lincoln also made another failed bid for U.S. Senate from Illinois in 1858. He lost to Democrat Steven Douglas.

“Our conclusion is that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is ill-prepared to be President of Nigeria if he could bungle a television interview that was planned well ahead of the day and time the duo of Dr. Reuben Abati and Ms.Tundun Abiola conducted it.

“We expected the PDP presidential candidate to be well informed on any issue before coming on national television to expose himself to avoidable ridicule,” he stated.