BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The All Progressives Congress on Thursday said that it is disheartening that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is pushing Nigeria into a largely one-party state.
The APC said that as a party that believes in democracy and progressive politics, it does not subscribe to this and therefore challenged other opposition political parties to take the place of the PDP, stressing that as a ruling party, it recognize the importance of rigorous and intelligent interrogation of its policies and programmes by the opposition which the PDP has woefully failed to do.
It said that it is therefore not surprising that progressive-minded members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been defecting enmasse from the opposition party to its fold in recent times.
The APC in a statement by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, said that for a party that is unable to run its Secretariat, pay staff salaries and its leadership grappling with a crisis of confidence, it will be unfair to expect its progressive-minded members to remain in the PDP which has failed woefully as the supposed ‘main’ opposition party in Nigeria.
The APC said it recently welcomed the Governor of Ebonyi State, David Nweze Umahi and Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Elisha Abbo, adding that this is in addition to earlier return of many prominent Party members and leaders including, former PDP national chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Dr. Alex Otti among others.
The ruling Party said that as a party, it welcomes new and returning entrants who have come to work with the President Muhammadu Buhari APC-led administration to improve the lives of Nigerians and overall better the country.
The APC further said; “The party ranks greatly appreciate the important work the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) under the Chairmanship of Governor Mai Mala Buni is doing to reposition the party by accommodating all interests and ensuring peace, unity, fairness, equity, justice and inclusion and internal democracy in our great party.
“The Governor Buni-led CECPC is working assiduously and has achieved great success in ensuring that the Party is repositioned, united, and conducts the planned membership registration, update and revalidation exercise to produce a clean, credible and authentic national membership register ahead of the planned National Convention.
“For now, the PDP and Alh. Atiku Abubakar who has began early 2023 campaign on the PDP’s presidential candidature he is poised to purchase, are engrossed with their Dubai meetings to plot their hallucinatory return to ensure their bid to selloff the remainder of our national assets. Nigerians are wiser”.
