The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has raised an alarm over alleged plans by “unscrupulous and anti-democratic elements to contrive skirmishes in the coming weeks aimed at smearing his personality”.
Abubakar raised the alarm in a statement issued by his media adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, on Friday in Abuja.
Abubakar, who was Vice President from 1999 to 2007, said that it was being revealed the grand plot orchestrated by some agents of evil to stage-manage pockets of upset targeted at attacking his reputation.
“We wish to blow the whistle as an early warning alert of the grandiose scheme being put together by some unscrupulous elements aimed at jeopardizing the reputation of Abubakar in the coming days and weeks.
“By the merit of what is beginning to unfold, there are plans to create some upset across the country, whereby alleged perpetrators of such crimes will engage in phantom names dropping of Abubakar and some senior personalities in the PDP,’’ he said.
Ibe said that they were abreast of some other plans to plant fictitious stories in some mushroom media outlets aimed at discrediting Atiku and his political party, the PDP.
“It, therefore, becomes preponderant that we alert the public of this demonic plan and to say that it will be imprudent to compromise the peace and security of Nigerians in order to score a cheap political goal.”
Abubakar, however, called on the Federal Government to be awake to its responsibilities of providing security and ensuring peace, and to desist from actions and utterances capable of exposing “our fault lines”.
He said that it was unsettling that senior administration officials would make calculated comments to tarnish the image of Abubakar and with no action from the government.
Abubakar also demanded that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, should tender an apology to him and the PDP.
MM/GIK/APA