BY Mayowa Tijani
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the nation’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, not to forget his promise to end insurgency by the end of July.
In a statement issued by Olisa Metuh, its national publicity secretary, PDP said it gave time for the president and the APC to settle down in office, saying the governing party seems to have no clear-cut direction on governance.
“The APC must understand that the hallmark of democracy is freedom of expression and opinion, particularly on governance issues; inalienable rights of all citizens guaranteed by the constitution and which must not be denied them under any guise whatsoever.
“Though we had decided to give President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party sometime to settle down, indicators show that the APC is not getting its bearing right and the PDP, as a party that has nurtured and sustained democracy in the last 16 years, cannot fold our hands and watch our nation drift towards dangerous undemocratic paths.
“The concern of well-meaning Nigerians is that this may be a pointer to the fact that the APC lacks clear-cut directions on how to govern a nation as complex as Nigeria.”
Referring to a CNN interview with Buhari on April 2, 2015, Metuh said rather than help Buhari to meet up with his campaign promises, the party leaders are “fighting for positions” in government.
“The negative effect of the glaring political commotion in the APC is compounding President Buhari’s self confessed nervousness and puzzlement, his flip-flops and worrisome reneging on campaign promises for which Nigerians will continue to hold him accountable.
“Instead of fighting for positions, which betrays their lust, APC leaders should be more concerned with how to help President Buhari, who is still struggling with his ministerial list and basic appointments more than a week after his inauguration.
“They should be more concerned with how to end insurgency by the end of July as promised by President Buhari in his April 2, 2015 CNN interview.”
The PDP further highlighted some of the APC’s promises while emphasising the need for direction in the ruling party.
“They should be concerned about how to pay N5,000 each to 25 million poor Nigerians beginning from the end of June; how to bring the naira to the same value with the dollar; provide allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months; provide free education and meals for school children among others as they promised during the campaigns.
“We invite the APC to note the concern of Nigerians that the pictures emanating from their camp are not reassuring in this direction.”
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