The Peoples Democratic Party has denied linking the All Progressives Congress to any Islamic agenda. The ruling party, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in Abuja on Monday, was replying to a statement credited to a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in which he asked the ruling party to stop linking the opposition party with an Islamic agenda. Apart from this, Atiku, who was one of the founding fathers of the PDP but now a chieftain of the APC, said that the ruling party was using the tactics to divert attention of Nigerians from the Federal Government’s ineptitude and apathetic posture to corruption and insecurity.
Apart from this, he also said that no responsible government should seek to create division, suspicion and animosity among its citizens by linking the opposition leaders with terrorist activities or accusing them of harbouring extremists. Metuh, in his reply, said though the party would not want to take on the former Vice President, he (Atiku) should not allow his media team to destroy him. Metuh warned Atiku’s media team to desist from associating him with propaganda, political mudslinging and character assassination that the APC had become notorious for.
“He said that it was wrong for anyone to say the PDP had accused the APC of having an Islamic agenda, saying its past reference on the issue was as a result of an allegation made by an individual against the opposition party.
Metuh said, “On the issue of the APC having an Islamic agenda, it is known to all and sundry that the PDP never labelled it as such. We merely, in our statement of January 7, 2014 drew the attention of Nigerians to the revelation by an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf Garba, and the Religious Equity Promotion Council that the APC was seeking to impose on Nigeria, an agenda akin to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
“In any case, we insist that it is completely out of place for anybody to associate the APC with Islam which is a religion of peace and does not preach violence, greed, destruction and lust for power which are the trademarks of the APC.”