The newly inaugurated National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, led by Sen. Iyiochia Ayu, has been denounced by the All Progressive Congress, which claims it will be no different than previous failed leaderships.
Sen. John Akpanudoedehe, the APC’s National Secretary, announced this in Abuja on Saturday in a statement headed, ‘APC: Loot Recovery, Viable Opposition, The Tasks Before Ayu-Led PDP.’
He claimed that the opposition party’s newly-installed leadership has already exhibited signs of being similar to the failed opposition party’s previous and ousted leadership.
According to him, any optimism of a refocused opposition party expected to atone for transgressions on the country while in government for 16 years and as a failing opposition party following PDP’s dismissal in 2015 has been rapidly crushed based on the new PDP leadership’s utterances and orientation.
Akpanudoedehe said, “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.”
He further said, “The priority of this adminstration has been clearing the national rot left behind by the PDP’s shambolic 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.
“Despite obvious roadblocks, President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is successfully cleaning up the mess and restoring Nigeria to its rightful status.”
This, he said, includes ongoing electoral reforms and non-interference with INEC’s functions; institutional reforms that have ensured financial autonomy for local government councils; financial autonomy for state legislatures and judiciaries; assenting the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act; infrastructure revolution in road, rail, and air transportation; and implementing social investment programs that have financially empowered millions of Nigerians, particularly the poor.
The APC also lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd) economic diversification strategy as “hugely successful,” saying that it had unleashed citizens’ creative energies and increased agricultural production.
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