A stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former gubernatorial aspirant from Abia State, Emeka Kalu, has faulted the claims that the defeat suffered by PDP during the 2023 presidential election was a result of Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy.
Recall that Atiku contested in the 2023 general election on the platform of the PDP.
The former Vice President, however, lost the nation’s number one political position to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement released in Lagos on Tuesday, Kalu characterized those criticizing Atiku as political adversaries.
Naija News understands that a former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbodiyan, along with Chief Olabode George, a prominent party member, have blamed Atiku for the recent setbacks experienced by the PDP.
Kalu, however, said it is fundamentally defamatory to unjustly vilify a distinguished national leader whose contributions have consistently uplifted the populace’s lives.
He said: “As a sagacious and resilient leader, Atiku Abubakar has been intentional in re-jigging the collapsing socio-political-economic structures of the nation when elected the next President and it remains one of his continued points of National Transformation Agenda towards healing the wounds of APC’s lopsided governance in the country.
“So saddening that those who fed from the political pot of Waziri Adamawa to become relevant in the political society have chosen to denigrate his personality simply to please Atiku’s enemies.
“A former and the immediate National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Kola Ologbodian, got the impetus to have addressed Atiku as a man of deceit ready to sacrifice his entire family to become the President. What a treachery! In the same vein, Chief Olabode George recently cited that the PDP lost the 2023 Presidential election because Atiku was the candidate.”
He inquired about how Atiku’s candidacy in the 2023 presidential election hindered the PDP’s chances of victory despite the evident electoral irregularities that tainted the elections.
The Director-General of GIGG asserted that the attacks directed at Atiku’s character constituted a calculated smear campaign designed to undermine the political standing of the former Vice President.
Furthermore, he stated that the prevailing economic challenges could only be addressed under Atiku’s leadership, emphasizing that he is the sole experienced national figure capable of restoring Nigeria’s prominence in infrastructure development and national security, given his extensive background in public administration and politics.
“I hereby demand that this misguided, badly conceived and politically motivated character destruction is henceforth retracted, else our legal department would not hesitate to sue the defaulters on personality assassination, misrepresentation of facts and defamation of character.
“In conclusion, I hereby sternly warn that Atiku Abubakar be addressed with honour and his reputations must not be ruined nor debased,” Kalu said.
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