The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP newly-inaugurated )’s leadership, according to the All Progressives Congress (APC), has shown early signs that it is not different from its immediate past and has sacked leadership.
Sen. James Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee, stated this in an Abuja statement on Saturday.
He explained that the resemblance could be seen in the new PDP leadership’s utterances and direction, which he believes does not portray hope for a refocused opposition party.
He pointed out that the PDP’s only goal was to gain power by any means possible, ignoring the need for genuine restitution.
He went on to say that the PDP’s new leadership must demonstrate to Nigerians that it is willing and ready to abandon its penchant for impunity.
This, he said, it should do by submitting to the new democratic environment enshrined by President Muhammadu Buhari’s APC government, in which votes in all electoral contests are counted.
This, according to Akpanudoedehe, was the task before the Sen. Iyorchia Ayu-led PDP, not the empty and tired rhetoric of 2023 handover notes.
“The sit-tight syndrome, epitomized by the PDP’s doomed third-term agenda, has been abandoned as an undemocratic template.”
“President Buhari has assured Nigerians and the international community that free and fair elections will be held in 2023, while also promising a peaceful transfer of power.”
“That is the stuff of true progressives and statesmen,” said the APC scribe.
He went on to say that the APC administration’s top priority had been to clean up the national rot left by the PDP’s 16-year administration.
He noted that, despite obvious roadblocks, the Buhari administration was successfully clearing the rot left by the PDP within the time frame, and returning the country to its rightful place.
He stated that the Buhari administration had ensured continuous electoral reforms and non-interference in institutional reform functions.
He explained that this had ensured, among other things, financial autonomy for local government councils, financial autonomy for state legislatures and courts, and assent to the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act.
Others he mentioned include an infrastructure revolution in road, rail, and air transportation, the implementation of social investment programs, and the empowerment of millions of poor Nigerians.
According to him, the President Buhari administration’s massively successful economic diversification drive has unleashed citizens’ creative energies and increased agricultural production.
“In addition, this government’s diversification policies have resulted in massive growth of the non-oil sector, resulting in Nigeria’s highest growth rate in the last seven years.”
“Record investments in the armed forces and other security services have equipped, morale-boosted, and enabled them to effectively protect our lives and properties.”
“The old system, in which impunity and corruption were widespread, is no longer the norm,”
In addition, Akpanudoedehe stated.
He expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their continued support for the APC and rejection of the PDP.