The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has berated the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, over his declaration that the current fuel scarcity and cash crunch were designed to frustrate the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
el-Rufai made the declaration while speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television breakfast programme during the week.
He alleged that some persons in the Presidency whose candidate was defeated at the APC presidential primary were responsible for the crisis.
But in a statement issued on Friday by Phrank Shaibu, his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Atiku said the remarks credited to el-Rufai concerning the crisis arising from the currency and fuel scarcity across the country came across as a low point in the profile of governor.
He said it was unfortunate that at a point when the masses of Nigeria were groaning under the weight of the currency crunch, the governor would rather than sympathize with the masses, prefer to go on political entanglement over the issue.
He said the crisis was created by the APC and would be wrong to associate the PDP or its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar with it.
The statement by Shuaib reads in part: “It is curious why Governor el-Rufai and other elements of his ilk in the APC had to wait this long before they found it contingent to speak in disapproval of policies initiated by their own political party. Perhaps, it is because for them, self-interest in an election season is more important than public interest.
“As a matter of fact, the lingering fuel scarcity and, indeed, the currency crisis of which el-Rufai so bitterly complained about did not just start today. In major cities across the country, Nigerians have been contending with the problem of fuel scarcity for almost two years in some places like the Federal Capital Territory, while el-Rufai and others crying foul in the APC turned blind eyes to the plight of Nigerians.
“On the contrary, Atiku Abubakar and the PDP have persistently brought the attention of the country to the sufferings of Nigerians by the APC administration in the past almost eight years.”
