The camp of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has debunked the claim of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party that he is hoarding billions of new notes in certain states ahead of the general elections.
This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mahmud Jega.
The reaction was coming hours after the PDP through its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, called on Tinubu and governors of APC states to immediately release the billions of new notes allegedly in their custody.
Ologunagba accused the ruling APC and its presidential candidate of trying to sabotage the system by diverting the money when it became obvious that they cannot win in the forthcoming election.
While describing the allegation as spurious and devilish, Jega stated that Nigerians have come to identify Tinubu as the ‘champion of the voiceless and underprivileged’ which could also be seen in the manner he challenged the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline and end the public suffering
This is even as he explained that some of the propaganda targeted at the APC in recent times were being spun by some paid PDP agents living outside the country.
The statement partly read, “Our attention has been drawn to the irresponsible and infantile allegation by Atiku Abubakar’s Peoples Democratic Party, claiming that our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is mopping up new naira notes to buy votes.
“The allegation is simply ludicrous, spurious and a desperate attempt to divert public attention from the anti-people posturing of the PDP candidate, after he and Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi asked the Central Bank of Nigeria not to extend the deadline for the use of old naira notes.
“They took the position despite the pains our compatriots are experiencing. They actively promoted the sanctity of the deadline in the calculated hope of reaping a political windfall from the people’s suffering.
“We want to assure Nigerians that claim is utterly false. Also spurious, devilish and unconscionable is the claim by two UK-based Nigerians, one Bulama Bukarta and one Jafar Jafar, that the currency change was made because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu stockpiled billions of naira in every state with the intention of vote buying.
“There is no iota of truth in this claim which was concocted for mischievous and devilish purposes by these PDP agents. The duo claimed they “heard” the “information” from “knowledgeable sources.” These “sources” clearly exist only in the partisan imagination of Bulama Bukarti and Jafar Jafar.
Jega lamented that the duo made the serious allegation recklessly without a shred of evidence, believing that by living in the UK, they are beyond the reach of Nigerian laws of defamation.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to disregard the allegations peddled by the PDP and its surrogates while holding on to their conviction that Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima ticket would deliver at the polls with a landslide.