The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that it has taken note of the recent statement by its Vice-Presidential Candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, responding to persistent accusations and propaganda from elements within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, NDC Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Agada Abuh Theophilus, stated that some members of the ADC accused Kwankwaso of working for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or preparing to step down for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The NDC described the claims as baseless and unfounded.
It said it is deeply incensed by the continuous stream of reckless rumours and coordinated falsehoods being peddled by agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their collaborators within the ADC.
Agada said these individuals have made it a habit to accuse its National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson; Vice-Presidential Candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; and even Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, of working for Tinubu and the APC.
He said such claims are not only malicious but constitute a deliberate campaign of character assassination designed to sow confusion within our ranks.
The statement added: “From intelligence available to the NDC leadership, this malicious campaign, rumours and propaganda against Senator Seriake Dickson, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Babachir Lawal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and even the Presidential Candidate himself, Mr. Peter Obi, is set to be heightened in the coming days and weeks. NDC members and supporters must brace up for this intensified propaganda.
“This devious and divisive propaganda is calculated to create disaffection, suspicion, and internal friction among members of the NDC, with the clear goal of slowing down our momentum. These political elements do not want Babachir Lawal to hold the Middle Belt, North Central, and North-East for the NDC and Obi. They equally seek to distract the Vice-Presidential Candidate from consolidating the North-West, Former President Obasanjo from the South-West, and our National Leader, Senator Dickson, from the South-South.
“These baseless rumours are deliberate attempts to distract the NDC, its leaders, and its supporters. Our members and supporters must not fall for their antics.
“From further intelligence available to the party leadership, even the Presidential Candidate is not spared. There are plans to push propaganda that he will step down for Atiku and that he has accepted the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation in an Atiku administration should Atiku win. These are pure fabrications.
“It is particularly instructive that the ADC has remained visibly aggrieved with Senator Henry Seriake Dickson for offering his platform to Mr. Peter Obi. The ADC had earlier positioned itself around a permutation that sought to pair Atiku Abubakar with Peter Obi as Vice President in the hope of securing the presidency. Senator Dickson’s decision to provide a credible and independent platform for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket has disrupted those calculations and reduced the ADC’s prospects, hence their constant attempts at casting aspersions on him.
“Dickson’s only “crime” in all of this is accepting Obi into the NDC and giving him the presidential ticket. Those behind these attacks will stop at nothing to rubbish his name and reputation, as well as those of other party leaders.
“It is deeply disturbing that some gullible and impressionable members of the NDC have allowed themselves to be swayed by these antics. By lending their voices to the casting of aspersions on Senator Dickson, Kwankwaso, Obasanjo, and Babachir Lawal, they risk becoming unwitting tools in a scheme whose sole objective is to destabilise the NDC from within. Such conduct serves neither the interest of the party, the ticket, nor the Nigerian people.
“The NDC hereby reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket. Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, our Presidential Candidate Mr. Peter Obi, our Vice-Presidential Candidate Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and the entire leadership of the party remain firmly focused on the task ahead. We are not in this election merely to contest; we are in it to decisively end the era of the APC and to deliver qualitative, competent, and people-centred leadership to Nigerians.”
The NDC called on all members and supporters of the NDC, and supporters of the Presidential Candidate, to discountenance any rumour suggesting that the National Leader, Senator Dickson, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Babachir Lawal, and several other leaders of the party are working for Tinubu or Atiku.
He urged members to close ranks, stay united, and repel this propaganda.
“Stay focused on the singular goal of delivering the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket. History will not be kind to those who allow themselves to be used as instruments of division at a time when Nigeria needs unity of purpose within the genuine opposition,” Agada added.
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