The Presidency on Sunday blasted APC
leaders saying that they were not only unprogressive but also
describing them as “politically expired” politicians. However, the APC
reacted swiftly, saying Nigerians knew very well that most of the PDP
leaders were septuagenarians and octogenarians.
APC national leaders – Chief Bisi
Akande is 74 years, Maj.-Gen. Muhamadu Buhari,70; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
61 and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, 61. The PDP National Chairman, Bamanga
Tukur, is 76; Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, is 80 and
Chairman, Disciplinary Committee, Umaru Dikko, is 77.
But the Presidency, through the Special
Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said with
the “politically expired” leaders in the APC, there was no way it
would be a threat to the PDP.
It added in a statement in Abuja, that
it would be foolhardy for anyone to think that the APC would be an
alternative to the PDP.
“This fact is further reinforced by the fact that even its (APC) leadership parades politically expired, analogue
and yesterday men, including the likes of Akande, Ikimi, Bello
Masari, Buhari, Ogbeh, Bashir Tofa and their likes, who do not promise
any hope for today’s Nigeria and therefore cannot bring any meaningful
change to the polity,” the Presidency added.
Insisting that the membership of the APC
was not progressive, it claimed that the ideology of the party was
not also impressive.
It said the only common thing that bound them was the desire to seize power from the PDP.
The Presidency claimed that President Goodluck Jonathan was being persecuted because he was from a minority tribe.
“The membership and composition of the
APC is nothing progressive. They are ideologically ill defined and seem
to have come together for only one purpose which is to grab power from
the PDP and united on one sentiment which is their peculiar hatred for
the person of President Jonathan. Is there an offence in being a
President from a minority tribe?,” it stated.
The Presidency said that those who
joined the APC did so because of their hatred for the President, which
it said started since he won the election in 2011.
The Presidency said, “Those who
cooperate with them from the North are not true mainstream northern
politicians but rather anarchists and irredentists who pursue political
power based purely on ethnic sentiments.
“From the first day of the Jonathan
Presidency, these people have tried all methods to suffocate his
administration and make it impossible for him to govern. Immediately the
President was inaugurated, he was made to contend with a major
post-election violence unprecedented in the annals of our political
history.
“This paved the way for the escalation
of the Boko Haram insurgency to the level that was totally and
absolutely unimaginable; reducing previous episodes like the Maitatsine
riots and similar previous sectarian violence in the North to a child’s
play.
“It is to the glory of God, tenacity of
purpose and ingenious administrative capacity of President Jonathan that
in spite of these overwhelming and daunting security crisis, his
administration still records a most distinguished performance in terms
of delivering dividends of democracy ever recorded in the annals of
the history of Nigeria.
“Isn’t it surprising too that since
their coming together, Nigerians have yet to know what the APC stands
for in terms of definite agenda? What do they have that is better than
the PDP?
“They have no official manifestoes;
rather what we hear from one leader is a sharp contradiction from what
we hear from another.”
For example, it said Buhari,who is the
leading figure of the APC in the North, delivered a lecture in London
in which he alleged that he spoke against restructuring of the Nigerian
federation, resource control, sovereign national conference and other
core demands of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.
The Presidency added that Tinubu went
to a similar event more recently and listed out APC’s proposed
programmes on power, agriculture, and rail transportation which were not
in any way different from the contents of the Transformation Agenda of
the PDP.
It said in spite of the long years of
existence of the three political parties(ACN, Congress for Progressive
Change and All Nigeria Peoples Party) that merged into the APC,they were
unable to find credible personalities among their followers for
national positions and offices.
“The ACN particularly is reputed to
always outsource its presidential candidate to the PDP. It is not
surprising therefore that in the new party’s national executive, six of
its 11 members, which is about 60 per cent are former chieftains of the
PDP,” it added.
Because of this, the Presidency said
Nigerians would want to know whether the APC was different from the PDP
or that it should be regarded “as PDP 2.”
Faulting the description of the APC as
consisting of old and expired leaders, the Interim spokesman for the
APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, wondered if those leading the PDP could be
categorised as young men when all of them were in their 70s and 80s.
He added that Nigerians would determine the fate of APC and the PDP in 2015.
The APC interim spokesman added, “What Okupe is saying is that the National Chairman of the PDP is a young man.
“He is saying that the chairman of its
Board of Trustees is also a young man. This is a party whose national
youth leader is about 70 years. Nigerians are not fools. At the
appropriate time, they would decide what they want.”
Meanwhile, political leaders, including governors in the North-West, are divided over whether to join the APC or not.
Our correspondent gathered that the
leaders and their followers were not happy with Jonathan and were
therefore determined to ensure his ouster in 2015.
For example, some northern governors,
especially those in the North-West, have been meeting political leaders
and former rulers, complaining about Jonathan’s style of leadership and
the running of the PDP.
The governors are Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto), Babangida
Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).
They also complained about the crisis in Rivers State, which they were said to have alleged was caused by the Presidency.
It was gathered that while Nyako had
been fraternising with the defunct ANPP before it became a part of the
APC, Lamido, on the other hand, had been lambasting the promoters of
the new party.
A source close to two other governors
said; “for now, the best thing to do is to engage in wider consultations
rather than just jumping into a new party; there are many ways to kill a
rat; if the PDP believes that without some governors it could go it
alone, then, when election comes, we shall see.
“That has been the position of the rest
governors but it is only the Adamawa State governor, who is insisting
that his colleagues of like-minds should dump the PDP before 2015.”
But the Chief Press Secretary to Nyako, Ahmed Sajoh, said his boss was not leaving the PDP.
He said, “The governor has made it clear
that he is not leaving PDP, but the matter in Adamawa is beyond
comprehension whereby the national chairman of the PDP decides what goes
on in the party in the state without an iota of concession to the
governor.”
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when a stronger political party as APC emerge, other ruling parties tend to be fidgetting..
ReplyDeleteAPC's registration is a healthy and a welcome development.
i see them mounting the thrown..
Now we have two political parties in Nigeria. APC and PDP. Others should decide either to join one of these. This is for the betterment of Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteok now
ReplyDeleteWhile i frown at PDP leadership style of nonperformance, i don't see APC as the messiah at all. It is like new wine in old bottles. If i don't know Buhari well enough, at least, i know Tinubu quite alright. He is an epitomy of greed and power mongering. Nigerians should be cautious in their jubilation over d emergence of Apc.
ReplyDeleteGood news: Doyin Okupe is just making heavy noise that harm more the PDP. please lets the masses decides their choice. Nigerian can decide without your noise.By the way, what has been your contribution towards Nigeria development other than embracing corruption and atrocity? For your information, PDP tenure is over now, now. not even in 2015. Common Thief. Baba Ole!
ReplyDelete