Group lambasts Atiku over security search alarm, says ghost of yesterday after PDP candidate

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a onetime Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been at the receiving end of harsh criticism over his claim that security operatives allegedly harassed him upon his return to Nigeria from Dubai on Sunday

Atiku had hinted that he was intimated by security agents.

He tweeted: “I arrived to Abuja this morning to a search by agents of the state, aimed at intimidating me and my staff.

Reacting, however, the Africa Civil Rights Centre described Atiku’s claim as a cheap blackmail just to get sympathy.

Dr. Enemaku Ocheni, Executive Secretary, said the PDP cadidiate was only being chased by the ghost of the past.

The group in a statement warned Atiku to stop crying foul except there is something he and the PDP were hiding from Nigerians.

He said, “The latest antic of Atiku and PDP is to whip up a storm in a teacup over the routine screening reportedly conducted on him by security operatives upon his return to Nigeria from Dubai on Sunday.

“He has with the PDP and a retinue of hirelings made so much noise about the search on a scale that sought to present law enforcement agents as singling him out. One of his hirelings even issued a substance-induced sounding statement claiming there was an attempt to frame Atiku by dropping sacks of foreign currency on his aircraft, only someone that once carried out such operation can allude the same to another person.

“It is most unfortunate that Atiku Abaubakar that once held the nation’s number two position for eight years knows no better than to disparage security agencies that are on legitimate duty; he omitted to explain to his supporters that the same DSS he is disparaging is proving security cover for him as per tradition.

“At a time when several of his political associates in the PDP have been severally fingered in using their convoys to provide safe passage for Boko Haram members and even ferrying weapons for them, it is not out of place to conduct random search on persons entering the country.

“Atiku must realize that he called the rain upon himself. Proceeds of his acquisition that he wants to use to buy the 2019 election are stashed in Dubai so he might have as well been smuggling in foreign currency to upend the electoral system in violation of the law. Furthermore, knowing the Middle East as the hotbed of religious extremism and terrorism, it is proper to confirm that anyone coming back from there is not returning with training manuals for Boko Haram terrorists; incidentally, there has been some surprising coincidences between when some people return to Nigeria from the Middle East and when Boko Haram fighters strike military outposts.

“The PDP presidential candidate must be roused from his deep sleep walking to realize that even in Dubai people submit to security checks and no one is above the law. It is self-serving for him and his party to make issues out of being searched in Nigeria when he meekly submit to same in other countries.

“Our advice is for Atiku to stop the victimhood game that he played when he attempted to supplant his boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. Nigerians now properly understand him as a desperado that always attempt to ride on the wave of populism by presenting himself as a victim – in the Obasanjo years, he returned from abroad with a cast on his knee so this time around he changed strategy to claim he was searched.

“If he is serious about the restructuring he has been chanting around like a broken record, he will understand that equitable treatment of all citizens is the core of restructuring and not the licensing of state officials to steal, which supposes that having held the office of vice president in the past does not excuse him from going through what other Nigerians legitimately go through. Atiku Abubakar should therefore stop crying foul except there is something he and the PDP are hiding from Nigerians.

“Instead of being jittery about the levelling of class in the emerging Nigeria, Atiku and the PDP should focus on issues as that is what Nigerians demand for in the 2019 election and not a Hollywood-worthy film show. If this is the script that Brian Ballard could hand Atiku and PDP at the rate of N1million per day then they have been duped and justifiably so. It will imply the candidate and his party are being chased by the ghost of their past when they duped Nigeria to no end.”