The ruling Peoples Democratic Party has
said that the opposition political parties merging to form the All
Progressive Congress do not have the capacity to hold primaries to
choose those who would be contesting on its platform in 2015.
The PDP said if the APC held primaries,
many of its supporters would be angry with the outcome and this would
tear the party apart.
“We challenge the opposition also to be
bold enough to hold primaries when the time comes. Many of those singing
praises of the alliance will be betrayed and victimised by the
godfathers and it will dawn on them that they have been deceived,” the
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said in a
statement in Abuja on Sunday.
But the APC has said it is not afraid of conducting primaries.
It said Nigerians believed in it because they know they would not give automatic ticket to any aspirant.
While taking stock of the unfolding
political events in the country, including merger arrangements, Metuh
said that there were positive signs and concrete indications that the
PDP would still win the Presidency and more states by 2015.
He dispelled fears that divergence of
views and opinions among members of the PDP were capable of weakening it
ahead of the 2015 elections.
Metuh said the PDP appeared to be in
crisis because all members of the party had opportunity to air their
views and to freely canvass their opinions unlike what he said obtained
in the opposition parties where he said opinions and views of members
had been muzzled by political godfathers.
He, therefore, dismissed as “shadow
chasing and day-dreaming,” boasts by the leaders of the APC that they
would take over government in 2015.
While saying that power lies only with
the people and not in the hands of few individuals, Metuh added that the
opposition alliance would soon be in disarray. He said that most of
those in the ranks would be betrayed and victimised by the godfathers,
who, he said, saw the coalition as their personal estates.
Metuh said the opposition were already
doomed “to fail as Nigerians have since realised that they are merely
strange bed fellows” who have nothing to offer but united by
“bitterness, frustration, and religious and tribal sentiments.”
According to him, “We welcome the
opposition to the contest. However, they are already doomed to failure
because Nigerians have since realised their undemocratic tendencies and
desperation for power for selfish reasons.
He said, “Nigerians know that they are
merely strange bed fellows who are united by bitterness, frustration and
religious and tribal sentiments and not for the national interest.
“They have continued to betray their
lust and inner disposition by their utterances in seeking to ‘seize
power’ which has remained their only agenda.
“They fail to understand that in a
democracy, power is not to be seized. It is conferred by the people and
this is the reason the people have continued to identify with the PDP.
“The PDP believes in the people. No
individual, group or tribe owns the PDP. It belongs to all Nigerians.
The PDP is a big family, united in freedom. In a family there are bound
to be divergence of opinions and views and this occurs where people are
free.
“What outsiders see as internal disagreements is actually a reflection of the democratic stance of the PDP.”
“The PDP is the only party where people
are absolutely free to express their views and freely canvass their
opinions unlike in the opposition parties where the views and opinions
of members are muzzled by their godfathers,” he added.
Speaking for the APC, the National
Publicity of the Congress for Progressive Change which is a major factor
in the merger, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said the PDP was already afraid of
the party even when it had yet to take off fully.
He said, “It is good that the PDP is acknowledging that fact that we are going to do primaries.
“This is different from what you have in
the PDP where its leaders are already saying that there won’t be any
primaries and that they already know who will be their candidates.
“Tell them that they do not need to fear
and panic too much now. What is however certain is that come 2015,
Nigerians would say bye-bye to this clueless and visionless regime.”
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of
Nigeria on Sunday said that contrary to insinuations it would not be
possible for any single individual to attempt to hijack the APC.
The Deputy National Chairman of ACN, Mr.
Boss Mustapha, made the clarification during the public presentation of
a book entitled, “Engendering Progressive Politics-APC: Challenges of
reforming Nigerian Politics” in Abuja. The book is written by a former
Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Salisu
Lukman, and it outlined procedures to reposition the progressives in the
nation’s politics.
Mustapha said the APC which
metamorphosed from the merger of the ACN, CPC, All Nigerian People Party
and some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance would not be
under the control of an individual.
He said, “The opposition merger plan
cuts across party lines and is made up of credible people who have
decided to take their destinies in their hands. We needed to go and
identify with the yearnings of our people who are lamenting the lack of
progress in the last 14 years.
“If anything, the facilities that were
there before have disappeared and what is now left is religious and
ethnic bigotry. They said they are tired of the situation, they said
this, and no one forced them to make up their minds. So, no individual
can hijack the merger platform because APC has taken a life of its own.”
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