‘I wonder why they still exist’ — Tinubu mocks PDP over party crisis

Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he wonders why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) still exists.

The former Lagos governor spoke on Saturday at the unveiling of the Tinubu/Shettima door-to-door campaign group in Abuja. 

Tinubu, who described the PDP as a party that lacks direction, urged members of his party not to be bothered about the opposition.

“We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them,” he said.

“They spent 16 years and forgot that there is a railway infrastructure that can do haulage, human carriage, animal husbandry and food carriage across the length and breadth of the country.

“They (PDP) got there and turned it to an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow.

“We don’t need to worry about PDP — poverty development party. Today, let’s lower the temperature. It’s not the time to campaign yet. They will hear a lot from us.

“We are the party of progressive ideas. We want good education for our children, good development for Nigeria, prosperity for this country, agricultural and agro-allied projects to be embarked upon.”

The PDP ruled Nigeria for 16 years — from 1999 to 2015 — after which President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC assumed office.

The PDP is also currently in crisis over its leadership, with several calls for Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the party, to step down for a southerner since the party’s presidential candidate is also from the north.

Speaking further on his party’s plans for Nigeria, Tinubu said the APC has the solution to the country’s problems, adding that the party is strategising to tackle the challenges. 

“We have the confidence that we have what it takes. We have the courage, determination, perseverance and foresight to identify the problems of Nigeria and tackle them headlong and make a solution out of them for the prosperity of your children. We will guarantee tomorrow, jobs for your grandchildren, and the progress of tomorrow,” he said. 

“All we are doing is strategising, calculating and organising ourselves to confront the challenge before us.”

Also speaking, Kashim Shettima, APC vice-presidential candidate, said Tinubu’s presidency will turn Nigeria into an industrialised nation. 

“We are on the threshold of making history. The global economy is tilting towards recession because the world has moved from the agricultural age to the industrial age,” he said. 

“We have moved from the industrial age to the knowledge-driven age. People are now talking of big data of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and open biotechnology.

“Who among the presidential candidates we have here in this country has the skill set, the intellect, the capacity to move this nation greater than asiwaju Bola Tinubu?”