The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as a fake democrat. The group said the way Atiku cast aspersions on the Judiciary after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the outcome of the February 23 Presidential election, shows that Atiku is not a true Democrat.
BMO said the action of the former Vice President is contrary to the pledge made on his behalf by his official campaign spokesman Segun Showunmi, who told journalists that his principal would accept the verdict of the courts on the electoral challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said Atiku has simply proved to Nigerians that he is not who he claimed to be.
“Several months ago, shortly after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) was constituted, the PDP candidate’s spokesman told journalists in Abuja that Atiku would concede defeat if the tribunal ruled against it.
“But rather than keep to the promise, all Nigerians saw how even after the Justice Mohammed Garba-led panel had unanimously affirmed the outcome of the Presidential election, the party and its candidate opted to exercise their rights to proceed to the Supreme Court.
“Like many Nigerians, we are surprised that an individual of the calibre of a former Vice president has now decided to denigrate the judiciary after the apex court dismissed his appeal with a three-sentence judgement.
“Also surprising is that in the statement issued in response to the Supreme Court, Atiku described himself as a democrat but we wonder what manner of democrat would cherry pick what judgement to accept and which one to reject.
“And here is a man that has since 2007 been a beneficiary of the goodwill of the judiciary. Or is he saying something we don’t know about the court rulings he had benefitted from in the past, especially those that stopped his former principal from dealing with him.
BMO added that the manner of his attack on the judiciary in the aftermath of the judgement showed that he might be the brain behind the coordinated attacks against the judiciary.
“The tone of the statement is certainly not statesman-like and it follows the trend of the wave of attacks on the judiciary by PDP minions in the run up to the tribunal sessions and even after it threw out the petition.
“We also recall how Atiku led that frontal assault on the integrity of the President of the Appeal Court Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa and how after she recused herself, he put up a display of high hypocrisy by using words like ‘courage’ and ‘act of patriotism’ to describe her move.
“Nigerians also saw how ‘Democrat Atiku’ was always quick to commend the judiciary whenever the scale of justice tilted in favour of his party at any level, but would turn around to bad-mouth the same men and women of the Bench when the ruling party won.
“Such individual, no matter the level he rises to in his political career, can never be taken seriously, and like one commentator said, the former Vice President has shown that he is a sore loser that sought power not for service but for the sake of power.
“His comportment is that of someone who is so desperate for power and would not mind showing contempt for the Nigerian people as well as anyone that stands in his way.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has alluded to this on more than one occasion and we are convinced that this is one of the reasons that Nigerians in their millions have always rejected him at the polls”, the statement added.
