Atiku and his motley crowd are perennial election losers — Tinubu 

President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has described the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his motley crowd as perennial election losers following their protest on Monday. 

Tinubu added that instead of Atiku and his party spending time gathering evidence to present in courts, they are busy dancing ‘skelewu’ on the streets and causing traffic nuisance to Abuja residents. 

Tinubu was reacting to Monday’s protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by Atiku and some leaders of PDP.

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Tinubu in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, at the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Mr. Bayo Onanuga, expressed shock that the former Vice President of Nigeria could be so jobless and be disturbing public peace over an electoral outcome he had vowed to challenge in court.

The statement read: “Going by his political antecedents, it was rather not surprising that Atiku, days later, led a band of protesters, nay jesters in Abuja, to the headquarters of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“What was on display today by Alhaji Atiku and his motley crowd was a new low from the perennial election loser.

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“With Atiku staging a theatre of the absurd, we fail to see how a march to INEC by a scanty crowd will provide any victory window for him and his fragmented PDP.

“The only recourse open to Atiku after the electoral umpire declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu President-elect, is the Election Petition Tribunal. 

“Instead of Atiku and his party to wisely spend their time to gather the so-called evidence they hope to present before the courts, they are busy dancing ‘skelewu’ on the streets and causing traffic nuisance to residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, who were going to work on a Monday morning.

“We don’t expect a former Vice President of Nigeria, a statesman and a presidential candidate to be so jobless as to have time to disturb public peace over an electoral outcome he had already said he would challenge in court.”

The council said INEC headquarters is not a court where Atiku’s prayers can be answered.

“He should stop being teleguided by Dino Melaye, who disclosed scandalously that N400 billion was wasted on the election, which was clear at the outset that Atiku was bound to lose,” the council added. 

“Atiku should avoid being misdirected by other court jesters in his party, who continued to campaign after the election, still spewing their inanities against the President-elect. They are mere comic characters in a travelling theatre group.

“INEC headquarters is not a court where the prayers of Alhaji Atiku can be answered.

“No amount of theatrical display will give him succour. The honourable and lawful path to take is for Atiku to get his lawyers to plead his case in court.

“He should stop throwing tantrums like a baby whose candy was taken away over an election he clearly lost due to his own poor judgment; mismanagement of his own party and violation of power rotational arrangement between the North and the South.

“The PDP presidential candidate dug his own grave, in his last election and, absurdly, he is trying to rewrite the script of his own utter failure.

“We wonder how Atiku and his party hoped to win, when he himself admitted that Peter Obi, his running mate in 2019, ran away with traditional PDP votes from the South-East and South-South. 

“It is preposterous that while Atiku is disturbing public peace, chanting phantom electoral victory, Peter Obi is making same claim.

“We think both men have embarrassed themselves enough and it is time they both resolved who between them is the supposed winner that will challenge our party’s victory in court.

“We advise Atiku to retire honourably from politics and move to his abode in Dubai.

“At 77 in November, Atiku does not have age on his side again.

“He has participated in his last election and hopefully, he has learnt worthy lessons, never to place his selfish interests above party and established principles in his party and the polity.”