Atiku took Buhari’s ‘violence’ joke out of context- Keyamo

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign team says the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar took the statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari in Zamfara out of context.

Atiku had at a campaign in Rivers State yesterday alleged that Buhari called for violence if the APC loses on Saturday when he campaigned in Zamfara State.

But the spokesman of the APC, Festus Keyamo in a statement on Tuesday said Atiku didn’t understand the context with which the President was speaking.

He said, “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.

Read also: Atiku criticizes Buhari for asking Zamfara people to eat well so they can make trouble

“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.

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