We refer to a story in the Vanguard Newspaper of Saturday, July 15 titled, “2019: PDP Unveils Plans to Sack APC”.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgement that
favoured the Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator
Makarfi himself announced rather exuberantly that his victory at the court
meant that PDP was ready to return to power. We had dismissed Makarfi’s
statement as part of the excitement that follows a favourable court
ruling. However, since that Wednesday verdict, we noticed that
several of his supporters and party members have expressed similar sentiment.
We therefore feel the need to respond appropriately.
In recent past, the PDP brand of opposition politics had
been characterized mainly by allegation mongering and open incitements of
separatist agitations across the country. It appears however that the outcome of Wednesday ruling
is beginning to set them on a different course. We are therefore delighted that
the PDP is beginning to talk about holding the APC accountable for the promises
in our manifesto.
We want Nigerians, not just the PDP, to hold us accountable
for every promise contained in our manifesto. We only urge them to be fair. A
manifesto is not a four-year programme. If PDP had fully implemented its
manifesto in the 16 years that it was in power, Nigerians would not have been
attracted to the APC promise of change in 2015, because there would have been
little left to promise.
The Vanguard
Newspaper report quoted a former minister of PDP, “who did not want his name in print for fear
of a backlash from the current administration as he is presently facing
prosecution by the anti-graft agency.” That is exactly the problem with
the PDP as it is currently constituted. There are only a few people left in
that party whose faces do not represent the face of corruption.
These few good men and women left in the PDP would do well
to listen to ex-stalwarts of the party like the former Akwa Ibom governor,
Obong Victor Attah who has advised that the party needs an urgent change of
name because the PDP brand is already damaged beyond repair. But Nigerians know
that even with a change of name, it is not the cowl that makes the monk.
Therefore, like Attah asked, “Now that
they have resolved their crisis, what is left of the PDP?” Senator
Makarfi and his supporters should take a break from their victory dance to
attend to this question.
The Vanguard report also quoted the un-namable minister as
comparing the PDP and the APC to a tale of two wives, saying that Nigerians
have tried the two and had seen who was better. We find this metaphor quite
interesting. We need to point out however that APC is the new wife that is busy
working at the kitchen that has been looted empty by the former wife who had
made away with the entire foodstuff and even the kitchen utensils. Nigerians
know this. If the food is a little late in coming, they understand the
circumstance. But if that other thieving wife now begins to argue that she was
a better cook and should be brought back into the kitchen because the new wife
is a slow cook, then that should pass for hypocrisy. No matter the temporary
hardship that we may be experiencing, Nigerians know better than to bring PDP
back to power so soon for fear that this time, they might disappear with the
kitchen itself.
We also note with regret, PDP’s penchant to mock President
Muhammadu Buhari with his health situation. We admit that the health of a
president is every citizen’s business. However, it is un-African, if not
ungodly, to continue to taunt a man and even challenge him to a fight at his
moment of weakness. We have seen in the last few days, some members of the PDP
who have boasted to defeat President Buhari in 2019. We urge Nigerians to
Google the names of these individuals and see what comes up. It is however
understandable, even if not acceptable, that when the lion is enfeebled, even a
rabbit would grow the temerity to tweak its tail.
We urge Nigerians to remain resolute in support of the APC
and President Muhammadu Buhari. We are confident that whatever difficulty
we are going through at the moment is only a passing phase.
SIGNED:
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
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Politics