The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recently-conducted general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has said he is not planning a street protest in the event that the judgement of the court on his presidential election petition did not favour him.
Atiku, in a statement on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Paul Ibe, said he believed in the rule of law, adding that reports in the media indicating that he was planning such a protest was the handiwork of mischief makers.
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement circulating in a section of the media, to the effect that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of PDP in the 2019 presidential election and Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007 plans to lead a street protest in the event that the election petition tribunal rules against him and his party on the issue of a server for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“I wish to emphatically state that such a statement did not emanate from Atiku Abubakar or his privies. It is the work of mischief makers who want to mar his spotless pro-democratic record and lay the ground work for their threatened actions against him on false charges of being a threat to national security.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku Abubakar believes in the Rule of Law and in the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In his almost four decades in politics, he has never taken action or spoken words against democracy and will not start now.
“Atiku Abubakar and his team have confidence in God and thus call on those bent on mischief to have the fear of God and retrace their steps. Democracy has come to stay in Nigeria.
“The culture of fear being created now cannot rein in our democracy. Nigeria and Nigerians have a consistent history of outlasting tyranny and will continue to do so by the grace of God,” he said
