The Director of Planning, Research and Strategy Directorate of Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Council, Dr. Musa Babayo, says the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, is not a copy and paste material.
He made this claim to dismiss the allegation by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the manifesto was plagiarized.
Babayo dispelled the claim at Thursday’s official inaugural meeting of the campaign council PRS in Abuja.
The PDP Director of Strategic Communications, Dele Momodu, had labelled Tinubu’s 80-page policy document as a plagiarised version of late MKO Abiola’s ‘Hope ‘93’ manifesto, which was rehashed with Buhari’s 2015 Action Plan.
Reacting to Momodu’s ‘copy and paste’ claim on Thursday, Babayo said Tinubu’s policy document has no semblance to Abiola’s ‘Hope ‘93’ manifesto.
He said, “You know, politicians have a way of distracting their audience from the message. We are taught in business school that management is management, and I know its basic principles are planning, coordination and control. Nobody is going to reinvent the wheel. Issues keep on changing.
“That’s why I am telling you that this manifesto is not ‘copy and paste.’ It is a brand new document that has incorporated the monumental challenges and otherwise in the Nigerian state. In the security challenge that was highlighted in the Hope ’93 manifesto, there was no issue with the Maradi-Kano train line in it. Nigeria of 1993 is different from the one of today.
“I want to dismiss the comment made by the PDP Spokesman. They have a right to talk because we are already ahead of the competition. And when you are ahead of the competition, you should expect those who are following you from behind to try as much they can to shrink your market share. This political market share will continue to expand until we deliver Tinubu and Shettima as president and vice president in 2023.”
