A former Vice President and People Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) deserves no extra day in power after the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

Atiku, who chided the ruling party for hosting dinner for its presidential aspirants and other stakeholders amidst the tragic incident that occurred in Owo of Ondo State, said it was insensitive for the APC to disrupt working days in the name of primaries.

The PDP presidential candidate said this in a statement issued by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, on Monday.

He said: “It is disconcerting that on the very day when the whole of the country and the rest of the world was in a sober mood, on account of the massacre in Owo, Ondo State, the ruling party, All Progressives Congress could not find the moral rectitude to cancel a dinner with their presidential aspirants, slated for the evening of Sunday, 5 June.

“With blood of innocent worshippers flowing on the streets of the Sunshine state, leaders of the APC are gathered in Abuja, treating themselves to sumptuous dinner in a manner that suggests lack of empathy to the mood of the nation.

“For residents of the FCT who have been inundated with everyday stress as a result of bad governance by the ruling party, the choice of crucial working days – Monday and Tuesday – as days for the primaries of the APC is a callous and insensitive decision.”

Atiku further lamented that business activities were disrupted in the FCT in addition to epileptic power supply in the nation’s capital.

He, however, stated that the 2023 general election would be a referendum on the APC’s administration

“Should the APC delegates ask themselves what they have been brought to Abuja for, they should know that primaries of their party is not about any of the individuals vying for the presidential ticket of their party, but a referendum on the APC’s scorecard in the past 7 years.

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“Should the delegates be honest with themselves about the current state of affairs in the country under the watch of their party, they ought to know that allowing the APC to remain in power one more day after May 29, next year is an unpatriotic decision to make,” he said.

The former Vice President added that whoever was nominated by President Buhari as the APC presidential candidate would not be accepted by Nigerians after seven years of the party’s misrule.

Atiku stated: “It needs no mention that whoever is ‘handpicked’ as the APC presidential candidate in such a despotic process cannot be any different from the authoritarian fervor of the APC’s establishment.

“Such a candidate, therefore, cannot represent the future of hope and brighter aspirations that Nigerians look forward to after the termination of the current state of anomie which the ruling party is known for.”

“It is important to ask the managers of the ruling party why they elected to slate the so-called convention for a working day, thereby disrupting economic activities around the Federal Capital Territory.

“Even as delegates in the so-called election entered into the Federal Capital Territory, they must have been greeted with long queues of vehicles waiting to buy automobile fuel and darkness that continues to grim the capital city on account of seizures in electricity supply.

“It is important to stress once again, that the 2023 general election, more than anything else, is a referendum about the scorecard of the APC and Nigerians should not reward their failure with even a day more on the saddle,” the former Vice President said.

The Star