Keyamo to Atiku: You lied! Buhari never called for violence

Festus Keyamo, spokesman of President Muhamamdu Buhari’s
reelection campaign, says the president never called for violence
in Zamfara state.

Keyamo said this while responding to the comment of Atiku
Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), at a rally in Port Harcourt on Monday.

Atiku had accused Buhari of preaching violence, saying it is not
his first time of doing so.

Keyamo said Atiku made the accusation out of frustration, having
sensed a comprehensive defeat in the forthcoming presidential
election.

“Typical of the PDP and Atiku’s Campaign team, they have
continued in their favourite pastime of peddling falsehood,
scaremongering and misinformation,” the statement read.

“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.

“Even in some private meetings with our campaign team, the
President has always commented on this joke. 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.”