Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has disowned campaign posters titled “The Pukka’’ that festooned some of the major streets of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Atiku disowned the posters in a statement by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, on Wednesday.
Pukka, an Hindi word, means “authentic, genuine, sure, solid and excellent”.
The posters boldly carry Abubakar’s portrait and the message, ‘HE Atiku Abubakar GCON, The Real and The Right’, with a web address www.deservation.org, which belongs to a group of the same name based in Magaji/Sanda ward in Yola.
In Yola, the posters have also appeared on some streets in the capital of Adamawa, Atiku’s home state.
Dr. Sani Adamu, the director-general of the Atiku Deservation Group, an Atiku Abubakar campaign group, claimed the group was not waging a political campaign or breaching the campaign rules of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“Our attention has been drawn to posters of Abubakar, Presidential candidate of PDP in the 2019 election being circulated in Abuja”, said Paul Ibe in a statement.
“We disassociate the former Vice President of Nigeria from the said posters in circulation. The campaign season is over. The tainted electoral victory by the incumbent is being challenged in court.
“We refuse to be distracted, which is exactly the objective of our opponents, but to remain focused on diligently pursuing our election petition with a view to retrieving the stolen mandate.’’
Ibe declared that the posters had nothing to do with the just concluded elections and the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation had no connection with it.
“I have not seen the posters. I am just hearing it from you. We are not aware of it. Whatever it is, it is not connected to the PDP campaign organisation.
“The campaign season has long been over but following the electoral hype by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar, as a democrat has submitted himself to the electoral tribunal to decide on matters arising from the concluded election”.
