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The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a swipe at the just inaugurated National Working Committee (NWC) of Nigeria’s major political party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that the new NWC led by former Senate President Iyorchia Ayu was inaugurated yesterday (Friday).
However, during the inauguration, the new PDP chairman knocked the ruling APC and President Muhammadu Buhari accusing them of mismanaging economy and leaving the country in ruins since it came on board in 2015.
In a swift response on Saturday, the National Secretary, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), of the party, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe said the opposition party under Ayu is starting on a faulty note as it neglected addressing basic issues but seems only interested in grabbing power in 2023.
Akpanudoedehe said Ayu should have been more concerned on genuine restitution, return of stolen public funds and assets still in possession of politically exposed persons during the party’s 16-year administration.
His words: “Going by the utterances and direction of the new PDP leadership, any hope of a refocused opposition party expected to atone for misdeeds on the country when it was in government for 16 years and as a failed opposition party following PDP’s sack in 2015 have now been quickly dashed.
“Clearly, the PDP’s sole intent is power grabbing by any means, ignoring the need for genuine restitution, return of stolen public funds and assets still in possession of politically exposed persons during its 16-year administration and ultimately providing a truly viable and credible opposition our democracy needs to thrive.
“The PDP’s new leadership must prove to Nigerians that it is willing and ready to discard its penchant for impunity by submitting to the new democratic environment entrenched by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government where votes count and the will of the people prevails in all electoral contests.
“This is the task before the new Senator Iyorchia Ayu-led PDP. Not empty and tired rhetorics of 2023 handover notes.
“The sit-tight syndrome headlined by the PDP’s ill-fated third-term agenda has been discarded as an undemocratic template. “President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians and the international community of free and fair elections in 2023, even as he pledged peaceful transfer of power. That is the stuff of true progressives and statesmanship.”
Reeling out the ruling party’s achievements under President Buhari, Akpanudoedehe said the nation is now bouncing back on track.
He said the ruling party said their priority has been clearing the national rot left behind by the PDP, especially in the handling of insecurity in its early days, its financial heist under the guise of procuring military weapons, fuel subsidy rackets, diverted loans, voodoo economics, abuse of public institutions and electoral fraud.
According to APC, “Despite obvious challenges on the path, the President Muhammadu Buhari government is successfully clearing the rot and returning the country to its deserved place. This includes continuous electoral reforms and non-interference in the functions of INEC; institutional reforms which have ensured financial autonomy for local government councils; financial autonomy of state legislatures and judiciaries; assenting the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA); infrastructure revolution in road, rail and air transportation; implementing social investments programmes thereby financially empowering millions, particularly poor Nigerians, among others.
“The hugely-successful economic diversification drive of the President Buhari government has released the creative energies of citizens and boosted agricultural productivity. Also, this government’s diversification policies has led to massive growth of the non-oil sector, spurring Nigeria’s highest growth in the last 7 years.
“Record investments in the Armed Forces and other security services has equipped, raised their morale and enabled them to effectively secure our lives and properties. The old system where impunity and corruption was pervasive is no longer the norm.”