All Progressives Congress (APC) says the newly-inaugurated leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shown early signs that it is not different from its immediate past and sacked leadership.
Sen. James Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee said this in a statement he issued on Saturday in Abuja.
He explained that the semblance could be seen in the utterances and the direction of the new PDP leadership which according to him does not portray hope of a refocused opposition party.
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He noted that clearly, the PDP’s sole intent was power-grabbing by any means, ignoring the need for genuine restitution.
He added that the PDP’s new leadership must prove to Nigerians that it was willing and ready to discard its penchant for impunity.
This, he said, it should do by submitting to the new democratic environment entrenched by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government where votes counted in all electoral contests.
Akpanudoedehe said this was the task before the Sen. Iyorchia Ayu-led PDP, and not empty and tired rhetoric 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 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,’’ the APC scribe stated.
He added that the priority of the APC administration had been the clearing of the national rot left behind by the PDP administration of 16 years.
He noted that in spite of obvious challenges on the path, the Buhari government was successfully clearing the rot created by the PDP within the period, and returning the country to its deserved place.
He said the Buhari administration had ensured continuous electoral reforms and non-interference in the functions of institutional reforms.
He explained that this had ensured financial autonomy for local government councils, financial autonomy of state legislatures and judiciaries and assent to the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act among others.
Others he stated are infrastructure revolution in road, rail and air transportation, implementing social investments programmes and empowering millions of poor Nigerians.
According to him, the hugely successful economic diversification drive of the President Buhari government has released the creative energies of citizens and boosted agricultural production.
“Also, this government’s diversification policies have led to massive growth of the non-oil sector, spurring Nigeria’s highest growth in the last seven years.
“Record investments in the armed forces and other security services has equipped, raised their morale and enabled them to effectively secure our lives and properties.
“The old system where impunity and corruption was pervasive is no longer the norm,’’ Akpanudoedehe also stated.
He thanked Nigerians for their continued support for the APC and for rejecting the PDP. (NAN)