Buhari never call for violence in Zamfara State – Campaign Group

Tom Okpe, Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari did not and never call for violence in Zamfara State. The Director, Strategic Communications of the group, Festus Keyamo (SAN) in a press statement in Abuja on Tuesday said typical of the PDP and Atiku’s Campaign team, they have continued in their favourite pastime of peddling falsehood, scaremongering and misinformation. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had in their Presidential campaign on Monday, 11 February at River State accused President Buhari of calling for violence in Zamfara State, causing disaffection and hardship among the people. But in its reaction, the Campaign group said: “This time, the candidate of the main opposition himself, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, sensing a comprehensive defeat this Saturday and out of frustration, threw caution to the wind in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday, February 11, 2019, when he alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari called for violence when he campaigned in Zamfara State. “Nothing can be farther from the truth. The Hausa word the President used in Zamfara, which has been taken out of context, is “fitna”. Incidentally all our Hausa language scholars have said the word means different things: it means distress, trial, affliction or temptation. It can also be used to describe rebellion or uprising. “In this case, President Buhari was actually weighing in on the joke told very often of recent in the North that due to the rice boom, farmers have embarked on pilgrimage and the marrying of more wives. So, what the President meant was actually a joke deliberately taken out of context: he simply told the crowd to ensure they eat very well because of the rice boom before they can contemplate giving in to those temptations”, Keyamo said. It was also noted that in some private meetings with the campaign team, “the President has always commented on this joke but sadly, out of desperation, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has decided to peddle falsehood. “We urge Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to realize that it is God Almighty that gives power and takes power. He should not use his palpable desperation to return to power in order to sell Nigeria to his “friends” and to make them rich to set this nation ablaze by outright falsehood”, the statement added.