The Peoples Democratic Party has said that a vote for APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a death sentence to democracy in Nigeria.
PDP argued that going by the stronghold of Tinubu in Lagos State, the same fate will befall Nigeria should Tinubu win this month presidential election.
Mr Charles Aniagwu, spokesman of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, canvassed this view while speaking to reporters today in a news conference in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
He revealed that other political parties do not display their campaign posters or billboards on the order of Tinubu , ‘the emperor ‘.
The APC loyalists working on the orders of Tinubu destroy posters and campaign billboards of other parties and the APC presidential candidate does not see anything wrong with that.
Aniagwu said: “Today, democracy has taken a nose dive in Lagos, you cannot even go and advertise any candidate or place the insignia of any political party apart from the APC in Lagos.
“Imaging if that kind of person becomes the president of Nigeria it means that it would be worse than military rule. Any vote for Tinubu is a vote for the death of democracy in Nigeria, its a vote for the death of electoral democracy in Nigeria.
“Hence Nigerians must take notice that the issue is not about his state of mind at the moment but that those canvassing for him, have ulterior motive.
“We don’t believe that their interest is Nigeria because they would have understood quite well that Bola Tinubu does not believe in democracy, if he does, he will not prevent people from being able to freely participate in democracy in Lagos.
“You will recall what happened in 2019 to our brothers in FESTAC area of Lagos, today you can’t have any billboard showcasing the insignia or the picture or campaign message of any of the political parties apart from the APC in Lagos.
“Is that the kind of person we want in our Nigeria were we believe that freedom is the major ingredient of democracy? Therefore this election is not just about voting but about the democratic and socio-economic survival of our country which Bola Tinubu cannot provide solution to,”
He also said the APC was dissociating their Presidential candidate from the policies of Buhari government because of the failure fas a government , adding that the party that produced the present problems and confusion should not even campaign but apologise to Nigerians.
The PDP spokesman said thus :
“You hear them say that the Naira redesign and the issue of fuel scarcity and the challenges associated with it is not the policy of the APC and I wonder who owns the policy?
“They are now trying to take away Tinubu who has been the self acclaimed National Leader of the APC. He wants to take himself away from the abysmal performance of the APC.
Aniagwu who is also Commissioner for Information in Delta, said Delta State government had discovered plans by the APC in the state to malign the government by printing posters and banners urging the people to reject the PDP over alleged fresh loans.
He bared the facts:
“Sometime ago we informed you about the efforts of the APC to blackmail the leadership of the state and indeed the PDP Presidential candidate and his running mate.
They have not succeeded in the many times they have tried but now we have it on good authority because we have evidence that they have printed posters, banners and billboards to discredit this administration on the frivolous allegation of collecting new loans.
“The APC here in Delta had attacked us before now particularly in the area of infrastructure and they couldn’t make any headway because we were able to prove to persons outside Delta that we have justified the resources at our disposal.
“Those in Delta have seen the enormous resources that we have invested in building a number of infrastructure in road, education, aviation sectors and human capital development through the various job creation platforms that we have deployed for the purpose of creating entrepreneurs and reducing unemployment in our state.
“Because they cannot attack us on these planks, they are now resorting to propaganda and lies and one of such is the printing of posters, banners and billboards alleging that we are taking a new loan which is not true.
“We are placing it on record that that is what they are planning so when you see them coming out with posters, banners and bill boards, take note that it is politically motivated as it has nothing to do with what we are doing in Delta.
“I appeal to Deltans not to fall for the cheap blackmail and propaganda orchestrated by Omo-Agege and his cohorts,”