By Shola Abayomi.
The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday berated President Muhammadu Buhari for describing the people of the FCT as “necessary evil” because they voted Atiku Abubarkar, the PDP candidate in the February 23 presidential election.
The PDP in a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, stressed that the president’s comment is condemnable and un-presidential, as the residents of the FCT were rightly exercising their rights.
According to the PDP spokesperson, President Buhari’s statement was “inciting, divisive and capable of demonising innocent compatriots and setting them up for victimisation by overzealous agencies.”
Ologbondiyan maintained that the president was rejected by majority of Nigerians and not only the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.
He said, “President Buhari should note that he was not only rejected by FCT residents but also by an overwhelming majority of Nigerians across the states of the federation, who voted massively for the PDP, only for the Independent National Electoral Commission to subvert the will of the people in his favour; consequent upon which our party and presidential candidate have headed for the retrieval of this stolen mandate at the tribunal.”
Reacting to the president’s statement “to make FCT secure is to make myself secure and the Vice President”, Ologbondiyan said it is disturbing that the president could make such statement, as it is his duty to provide security for all parts of the country, regardless of where he resides or how Nigerians chose to cast their votes.
Ologbondiyan insisted that if the president had the interest of the people by heart, securing the people should not be determined by certain conditions or factors.
He expressed optimism that the PDP would be victorious in its quest to retrieve its mandate.
“Nigerians should continue in their determination to retrieve the presidential mandate at the tribunal, so as to have an administration that truly cares for the citizens, in line with the provisions of our laws”, he said.