Former Presidential spokesman and journalist, Rueben Abati has chided the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Sen Bola Tinubu following a statement he made at the inauguration of the party’s women’s presidential campaign council.
The Quest Times reports that Tinubu who was the Special Guest of Honour on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at the event took a swipe at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calling it a party of termites
He said, “Our opponents spent 16 years, they had forgotten that the highway is an economy, electricity is mandatory for industrialisation. They don’t understand the transmission lines and the need for maintenance.
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“They couldn’t make a down payment for the trail track. They are a political party of termites.
Reacting to the jibe, Abati who served under Pres Goodluck Jonathan (PDP) cautioned Tinubu on his utterances, saying even though it is understandable to attack opponents during election season, he should not indulge in unnecessary propaganda, as his followers will take a cue from his actions.
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He further advised that candidates should pay more attention to the issues and state how they want to move Nigeria forward.
Abati said, “Then the speech by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Okay, I know it is normal in politics to pull down the opposition and promote yourself by saying your Mercedes is bigger than the other. But our political leaders should watch their rhetoric.
They should eschew hate speech and unnecessary propaganda, which is very important. Otherwise, their followers will take a cue and they too will be promoting hate speech. That’s not what we are interested in. We are interested in specific issues and how each of the candidates intends to provide leadership and move the country forward,” he concluded.