The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has described the alleged statement made by the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi on the state of the nation as courageous, urging him to resign his appointment and return to the PDP.

Former Special Assistant  President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri had released audio tapes of Amaechi allegedly casting aspersions on President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, Atiku lamented  the treatment meted out to Amaechi for speaking truth which led to his being made a ceremonial Director General of the president’s re-election campaign organization.

“We dare say that the cold war between the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi as well as the statements credited to the latter in a leaked tape which led to the appointment of Tinubu to take charge of the campaigns, are at the least a national embarrassment to the nation.

“Amaechi must now resign and return home to the PDP where he belongs,” the statement read.

The statement said the sentiments expressed by Amaechi in the leaked audios were in tandem with those of the PDP and the Nigerian public to the effect that Nigerians were hungry and needed to be rescued from a clueless APC administration led by Buhari.

“There is little or no surprise as to why the welfare and security of Nigerians have been pushed to the back burner as key players of the ruling party and the Buhari administration opt to dance naked in the public square.

“The only area the APC and the government see face-to-face is in the sharing of the spoils of office and looting of the commonwealth as confessed by Minister Rotimi Amaechi in the leaked audio tapes,” the statement added.

Atiku said the leaked audio tapes portrayed Amaechi as lacking confidence in the APC led government of President Buhari and also rubbished Lagos State which is generally portrayed by APC leaders as the flagship of the current administration.

In the third audio which was released by Omokri on Monday, a voice which resembles Amaechi’s could be heard saying: “Apart from Abuja, check anywhere else that has infrastructure.

“Lagos is a glorified village. The only difference between Lagos and other cities is the fact that our business is in Lagos and when our people are doing business they can always have food.

“If not, what do you have in Lagos? 1000plus megawatts, that’s all. What else do they have? No water, there are no roads. When you hear traffic jam in Lagos or any part of Nigeria it’s because there are no roads.

“Why is there no traffic jam in Abuja? The reason why you meet traffic jam in Lagos is because there are no roads.”