Eniola Olayemi

Two major political parties in Nigeria, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday engaged each other in mocking match.

The APC on its part mocked the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, for promising Nigerians that if elected president he would grant amnesty to looters.

Atiku had made the statement on Wednesday when he and his running mate, Peter Obi, appeared on a televised town hall meeting, tagged ‘The Candidates’.

The APC said for Atiku to have made such promise that his campaign slogan, ‘Let’s make Nigeria work again’, is deceitful. The party said the slogan only meant, ‘Let’s loot Nigeria again’.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said at a press conference in Abuja, “a redefinition of their (PDP) presidential campaign slogan, ‘Let’s loot Nigeria again’ is now trending heavily in the social media”.

He said it was surprising that Atiku and Obi’s could make the “shocking confession” that their administration will grant amnesty to looters.

“We (APC) are equally shocked and hereby align with the wide section of Nigerians who are now abundantly clear of their intentions if elected and now see the collective need to stop them,” he said.

According Issa-Onilu, “The insistence of Alhaji Atiku and PDP to take us through this dangerous route where the nation’s economic policies and programmes are driven mainly by the interests of leaders, their local friends, and foreign partners constitute a present danger every well-meaning Nigerian must rise against. The choices before Nigerians cannot be more clearer. Those who have looted our resources, stolen the monies meant to build roads, rails, and ports, provide regular and stable electricity for our homes and businesses, provide quality healthcare, create environment conducive for ordinary Nigerians to unleash their creativity and industry, and for all Nigerians to live a rewarding and prosperous lives are working hard to take charge again.

“It is disturbing that Atiku and his returning mate, Peter Obi, could boldly face the national, and indeed, global audience boasting that the future of our country belongs to the looters.”

The PDP on the other hand also on Thursday, saw the development in President Muhammadu Buhari campaign rally in Kano as good enough to mock the APC presidential candidate.

Two state governors and a traditional ruler from Niger Republic were said to have graced the campaign in Kano.

PDP latched on that to mock Buhari, asking him to bury the thought of achieving the five million votes Governor Abdullahi of Kano State promised him.

According to PDP, with the presence of leaders from a foreign country at the rally, it was clear that the crowd at the event were hired.

In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party told Buhari that the promised five million votes is illusionary, adding if the President was indeed committed to free and fair elections he ought to have cautioned Ganduje to stop making vain promises because the total numbers of voters registered in Kano is not more than 5.5 million.

“This promise is being made even in the scenario where President Buhari has since lost the support of the people of Kano State following his failure to fulfill even the littlest of the litany of promises he made to them during the 2015 campaigns,” PDP said.

It added that President Buhari must have received the shock of his life when he realized that his party, the APC, had to rent a crowd from neighbouring Niger Republic to populate his rally in Kano after the planners could not mobilize enough supporters from the ancient city to attend.