18th January, 2015
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insinuated that Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kaduna state governorship candidate, Malam Nasir El-Rufai are campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the presidential election slated for 14 February.
In a statement issued by Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) he said they were campaigning against General Muhammadu Buhari because they were both recorded to have urged voters to elect a younger president.
The statement said it recalled that El-Rufai, a former APC Interim Deputy National Secretary and a Buhari supporter, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, had described him as: “perpetually unelectable”.
El-Rufai, it recalled, said he was 25 years old when Buhari was Head of State and wondered why he would not allow younger generation as symbolised in President Goodluck Jonathan, to have a shot at the position.
“El-Rufai had also called on young Nigerians to take their future into their hands and ensure that they voted for a new generation of leaders,” Metuh said in a statement.
Similarly, he also stated that Fashola has urged voters to do same. “Lagos State Gov. Babatunde Fashola has not hidden his preference for a younger, more educated and articulate President who is able to connect with the current generation of citizens as embodied in President Goodluck Jonathan.”
It recalled that Fashola had earlier said that: “If you put an old man there, he cannot do it. If you call him in the night, he may not pick your calls.”
The statement wondered “who better fits into this picture than Buhari who could not remember the name of his running mate at his campaign rally in Owerri.”
It added that Buhari also nearly fell while trying to climb the stage in Calabar during the ACP rally in Cross River.
“In spite of his later attempt to remedy the situation, deep inside his heart, Fashola harbours an aversion to a Buhari presidency as evidenced in his earlier statements,” the statement said.
It quoted Fashola as having said that: “When 40-year olds are now leading nations and our 40-year olds can’t even get to the Senate, they can’t even become governors.
“We cannot point to success in other countries and refuse to do what those people are doing to get things right.”
This, it said, like many Nigerians put it, was a coded way of saying Buhari was too old to be the President of the Nigeria.
The statement added that the PDP was however, not surprised at the double standard being displayed by APC leaders, describing such as “one of their stocks-in-trade”.