Tinubu: Recent setbacks intended to stop me

Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress’s nominee for president, claimed on Wednesday that there was a plot to rig the poll.

In an effort to thwart the election and his predicted triumph, Tinubu pointed to the ongoing gasoline issue and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesign of the currency.

The APC presidential candidate spoke at the MKO Abiola stadium in Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the APC presidential campaign.

The charges made by the former governor of Lagos State, however, were refuted by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and oil marketers.

The PDP insisted that Tinubu would lose the election and claimed that he was only pointing out the shortcomings of the APC administration.

However, he urged Nigerians to exercise their right to vote despite the petrol shortage, saying that the election will be a better revolution.

“They have begun raising the concern of ‘no fuel. Don’t worry; if the fuel runs out, we will walk to the polls.

“We will win the election whether you hide the gasoline, raise the price, or change the ink on the naira notes. They will lose control of the government to us using our PVCs (permanent voter cards); if they choose, they can claim there is no fuel, in which case we will travel there (polling booths).

“They are full of mischief; they want to cause a gasoline crisis, and they have already begun doing so, but forget about it; I’m here to put your mind at ease. I, Asiwaju, shall eliminate gasoline shortages.

They are the ones who know where they are hoarding it, therefore let the price of petrol rise even more. They are stockpiling petrol and naira notes, but we will vote and prevail.

Change the naira note’s ink if you’d like—we’ll win the election and the opposition will lose.

An ex-governor of Lagos State addressed the crowd of youths and pledged that, if re-elected in February, his administration will put a stop to the problem of strikes in the university system.

In order to assure that no student takes any course for a year longer than necessary, he also promised student loans.

“I’m a youth, I’m here for you, and you won’t be put to shame,” he declared. They are traitors who want to grab control of the government away from us; we will take it from them.

“This election is a revolution; this is a revolution. Let your mind be at ease; we will put an end to artificial fuel shortages and the gasoline crisis. They are stating they want to raise petrol prices to N200.

Student loan

Great children, One thing I can promise you is that student loans will be available, and nobody will be forced to leave college due to costs.

“I can assure you of that. We are too smart, brilliant, brave, and sharp to have a four-year course only last four years. Nobody will have to repeat a class for eight years in order to not graduate. Do you concur? Vote you say? Call your sisters whether or not there is petrol.

The governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, adding that Tinubu is the finest option for the nation at this time while promising the APC standard bearer that the state would support him fully.

According to our correspondent, during the program, hoodlums supporting a politician in the South-West almost converted the rally into an exhibition of various attractions.

Following the hoodlums’ forceful exhibition of charm, the mood in the stadium got tense.

Later, when some students present at the gathering fought with the thugs who were assaulting others, chaos ensued.

Two others were stabbed while one guy passed out during the melee.

During the violence, which was later subdued, many individuals turned around and fled.

Debo Ologunagba, the PDP’s national publicity secretary, commented on Tinubu’s remarks about a scheme to rig the election by saying, “This is revealing the failure of the APC-led administration where Tinubu is the national leader.

“Is re-designing money a platform of the opposition? They are in command of the CBN and the petroleum supply, and they claim there is a fifth columnist. If the fifth columnist is outdoors, they have lost control and have failed. They cannot be outside. You therefore ask him, not me.

“How would you ask the opposition party, Tinubu is complaining about a policy of his own administration where he is the national leader? I do not belong to their political party, nor am I a fifth columnist.

The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization criticized the APC nominee for “seeking to blackmail President Muhammadu Buhari and blame the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government over his looming crushing rejection by Nigerians” in a statement in response to Tinubu’s allegation.

PDP PCC

Kola Ologbondiyan, the spokeswoman for the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization, characterized Tinubu’s statement as a face-saving maneuver before his impending electoral defeat.

“Our campaign finds it pathetic that Asiwaju Tinubu is seeking a face-saving measure ahead of his shattering electoral defeat by crying crocodile tears and alleging that the redesign of the naira notes and the fuel crisis under the APC administration, from which he has allegedly been corruptly benefiting, were plots to scuttle the 2023 general elections,” he said.

Kola Ologbondiyan, the spokeswoman for the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization, characterized Tinubu’s statement as a face-saving maneuver before his impending electoral defeat.

“Our campaign finds it pathetic that Asiwaju Tinubu is seeking a face-saving measure ahead of his shattering electoral defeat by crying crocodile tears and alleging that the redesign of the naira notes and the fuel crisis under the APC administration, from which he has allegedly been corruptly benefiting, were plots to scuttle the 2023 general elections,” he said.

It is unfortunate that Asiwaju Tinubu is attempting to mislead Nigerians by attempting to absolve himself of responsibility and placing the blame for the country’s acute fuel shortage on others within the Buhari led-APC administration, when in actuality, he (Asiwaju Tinubu) is known to have been responsible for the callous and anti-people policies that have caused so much calamity in our nation, including the ongoing persistent fuel shortage.

Given that Asiwaju Tinubu is allegedly deeply implicated in the corruption in the petroleum industry that caused the fuel crisis, it says a lot about his character that he would appear to care about the suffering of Nigerians only when it started to interfere with his political aspirations.

The PCC added that it was evident that Tinubu was upset about the re-designing of the naira “because the policy has frustrated his boastful plots to use slush fund, which he reportedly stashed away in secret vaults, for vote buying and manipulative schemes, including alleged funding of thugs to compromise the integrity of the 2023 Presidential election through the establishment of the Jagaban Army.

The statement continued, “Of course, only politicians who have consistently won elections by relying on bullion vans have grown concerned over the CBN monetary policy to redesign the naira.

Before his “loud Waterloo of loss by Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,” the campaign council recommended him to drop out of the race.

It also accused Tinubu of trying to distance himself from the Buhari regime which “he told the world that he brought into office just because he wants to beguile Nigerians and take their votes.’’

The oil marketers said it was wrong for the APC candidate to allege that the current scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit was aimed at scuttling the election.

Dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, and the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, stated that Tinubu’s claims lacked justification.

The National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated, “The issue of fuel scarcity has been a recurring issue during transition periods. It is not basically because of this election, no!

“I am aware that the Senate Committee on Petroleum had to step in during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in order to resolve the arrears that the Federal Government at the time owed to marketers.

“And during the time that that problem persisted, there was a severe shortage of petroleum products across the nation. At that time, even the labor unions vowed to strike.

“The threat was to make sure that the departing administration paid the debt owed to advertisers. Additionally, I am aware that the Federal Government established an intervention committee to handle matters during that time.

Also speaking, the President, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, explained that it was wrong to attribute the lingering fuel scarcity to a plot to sabotage the February election.

He said, “PETROAN says no to that. It is not correct. Petroleum product scarcity is due to the supply glitch and logistics issues that are impacting negatively on the NNPC’s efforts to flood our outlets with PMS.

Therefore, that cannot possibly be intended to thwart the 2023 elections. It is inaccurate.