Atiku advises Buhari to adopt issue-based campaign

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has advised President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to base their campaign for 2019 on issues, rather than insults.

He said this in a statement which Segun Showunmi, spokesman of his campaign, issued on Tuesday.

He advised the APC to uphold the virtue, “if it is not too hard” for the party to understand.

The statement said if campaigns were not conducted with care, they could hurt and divide the country.

“We need to restate as directed by His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of The PDP that the 2019 election should be issue based, devoid of slandering and name calling,” the statement read.

“We hold the view that unguarded narrative hurts the country and further divides us as a people.

“Some of the consequences of previous mismanaged campaign efforts is perhaps the reason why there is little or no internal cohesion with its attendant security challenges.

“Elections comes every 4 years in our country and if great effort is not taken, we could hurt the country and its people needlessly and invariably our democracy.

“We have to sign up to this ideals, we can campaign without recourse to hate speech, libels, lies, undue criminalization of people and each other.

“On our part we have signed up to running an issue based campaign and if it is not too hard for the Muhammad Buhari administration and the APC to understand, we call on you to do the same.

“There is greater value in doing so. Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth and we owe it to ourselves and the black race to be above board.

“We are merely trying to present our idea on how the country should be led and not interested in anything else. And by so doing, set Nigeria and its people on the path of working again.”