- * Accuses The Opposition Party Of Reliance On Fake News, Social Media Rumours
By Chinwendu Agoha (Governance Reporter)
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has charged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, to come clean on their pre-election relationships with the indicted internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi.
According to the group, this is against the backdrop of the several meetings some of the party's senior figures held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the man that has now been indicted in several international cyber and business email compromise frauds in the United States.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the group said that Nigerians deserve to know whether there was more to the party's meetings with Hushpuppi in the context of what was then known as the party's "Dubai strategy" in the run-up to the 2019 Presidential election.
"Like many Nigerians, we had carefully watched how senior PDP members, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar held meetings with a man with the type of reputation Hushpuppi had as a hacker, even though there was no conclusive proof of his criminal proclivities at the time.
"It was at a time the leadership of the opposition party turned Dubai into their strategic meeting place and some of their members proudly displayed, on social and traditional media, pictures of Hushpuppi in their midst, sometimes in a celebratory mood.
"And now that the Dubai resident has been formally indicted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), we believe this is the time that a party that sees itself as a viable alternative to the All Progressives Congress (APC) should give Nigerians some insight into the nature of its relationship with him.
"We make bold to say that it is no coincidence that Hushpuppi and PDP figures exhibited a level of camaraderie in those pictures that are still in the public space, so Nigerians deserve to know the purpose of those engagements with a known computer hacker and now indicted cyber fraudster?
"Is the party or any of its leading figures one of Hushpuppi's clients, especially as they had always insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had a server for results", the group wondered.
BMO noted that PDP's link with the indicted fraudster is a clear indication of the type of characters in the fold of the former ruling party.
"No discerning Nigerian would be really surprised that a party that ran the country aground in 16 years, even at a time of an oil boom, has a public relationship with a celebrated international fraudster.
"We recall that when pictures of Hushpuppi with the former PDP Presidential candidate, as well as those of other senior opposition figures first surfaced online just before the election, some politically savvy people described the relationship as one between birds of the same feather.
"It was immediately clear that their position was based on the knowledge that one group which presided over mass looting of Nigeria's resources was comfortable with an individual believed to be heavily engaged in money laundering on an international scale.
"We would not be surprised if Hushpuppi eventually names a highly placed PDP member as either an accomplice or a facilitator by the time the Americans conclude their investigations".
BMO urged the opposition party to begin the process of actually winning the heart of eligible voters like President Buhari and APC did in 2015 and 2019, rather than its usual manner of seeking to manipulate elections through fraudsters.
The BMO also described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as harbingers of petty social media rumours.
The group made this statement in response to the opposition party's claims that President Muhammadu Buhari is in London attending a virtual meeting of the Global Partnership for Education.
BMO in. another statement by its Chairman and Secretary, said it was worrisome that the largest opposition party in the country chose to revel in baseless claims on a Summit that has no fewer than 11 heads of government in physical attendance.
"We are indeed concerned about PDP's penchant for lifting baseless rumours and misinformation straight from the dark web and elevating them to talking points in the media space in order to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians.
"It speaks to the incapacitation of the party's media handlers to carry out research and be transparent with facts, including those that are already in the public space; like in the case of the Education Summit which the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, had made clear, in a statement as well in TV appearances, that the event is in a hybrid format.
"So we consider the latest act by PDP as yet another disservice to opposition politics in a country with a rich history of vibrant opposition parties that are known for keeping the ruling parties on their toes with facts and figures which were properly sourced and verified, unlike what we see today.
"We invite Nigerians to note that aside from President Buhari, 10 other heads of governments are live in London for a Summit that PDP claimed is strictly virtual, but was considered important enough by France President Emmanuel Macron and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, to attend in person.
"What PDP leadership and the party's media handlers may not know is that the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson had extracted a landmark commitment from G7 partners to make a pledge of at least $2.7bn to the Global Partnership for Education which is out to raise $5bn to support the education sector in about 90 countries where 80% of the world's out-of-school children live".
BMO added that it is in PDP's character to trivialise issues through subterfuge and outright disinformation.
"Is it not baffling that a party that held sway at the centre for 16 years could be so mischievous to downplay the President's decision to join eight other Presidents from Africa to push for a part of the donor funds that should benefit the continent?
"This is a party that was in power at a time the number of out-of-school children in the country grew to 13m before the Buhari administration brought the number down to 10m, yet it found it necessary to trivialise a Summit that is primarily meant to address that issue.
"And now that the country is set to benefit from a $105m grant from the Global Partnership for Education, it is safe to assume that the party would prefer that Nigeria lose out rather than be part of a process that would reduce the trend of out-of-school children as well as boost the safe school initiatives in Northern Nigeria.
"Perhaps most laughable of PDP's claim is the allegation that President Buhari wrecked the nation's healthcare system which we know many Nigerians would have found funny, but which clearly confirms our position on the manner the party indulges in subterfuge and outright falsehood.
"We wonder what healthcare legacy that PDP bequeathed in 16 years that the President and the All Progressives Congress (APC) dismantled in six years?
"This more than anything shows that the opposition cannot be trusted to be truthful and we urge Nigerians to learn to ignore their tirades, especially as fact-checkers have almost always trashed their claims as lies".
The group also reaffirmed its assertion that President Buhari would leave the country better than he met it when he hands over to the next administration in 2023. NNL.
