The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of sponsoring smear campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, alleged that the plot was hatched in collaboration with some foreigners in Dubai.

He maintained that the plot, aimed at dishing out fake news and spurious allegations against Buhari, his family members and other government officials, have failed to achieve the desired result.

He said: “Their Dubai-made strategy has collapsed like a pack of cards. The plan was to recreate the 2014/2015 scenario when APC pilloried them for their crimes, which woken the electorate to the reality of the disaster we were headed under the PDP government.

“PDP, led by their presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, paid huge sums of money to some foreign con men in Dubai who posed as strategists.

“They began to spurn daily fake news and make spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against our president, his family members, the vice president, the APC national chairman, notable government officials, and public institutions to deceive Nigerians,” he said.

He said their strategists did not tell them that such would not work when the allegations cannot be proven.

According to him, this is unlike in 2015 when the APC allegations were based on facts, which have been validated by revelations upon revelations of heist committed during the inglorious 16 years of PDP rule.

The publicity secretary added that the opposition’s disgraceful recourse to false alarm, as a campaign strategy this time is a wrong approach, as facts are sacred.

He stressed falsehood, no matter how fleet-footed, would be overtaken by the truth in no time.

Issa-Onilu said the reality has dawned on the fortune seekers in PDP that it is not possible to tag a label of corruption on President Buhari as a demarketing strategy.

He said it is also not possible to campaign based on issues of governance, as the achievements of this administration have shown, adding that it is obvious that the PDP has found itself in a fix.

“Many in the leadership of the main opposition party are finding it difficult to identify with a character like Atiku and many of the charlatans running the PDP campaign are unsellable.

“It is worthy of note that a few of the PDP leaders, with some residual credibility, are battling with their conscience as they are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the level of immorality that underlines the PDP’s politics. Anyone with a modicum of decency cannot be proud of the odious reputation of PDP,” he alleged.

He further claimed that when this is added to the fact that the PDP campaign has failed to present any programme to Nigerians, it could be seen clearly why the party’s campaign has become a stillborn.

“Like a lion, PDP roared, but it didn’t last and has joyfully ended up as the bleating of a goat,” he added.