TheCable

Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, has criticised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the absence of some governors at the PDP’s campaign flag-off.

At the flag-off of the PDP presidential campaign in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, on Monday, five governors — Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu — were absent.

Wike and his allies have been at the forefront of calls for Iyorchia Ayu to step down as the PDP national chairman.

Speaking on the development in a statement on Monday, Keyamo said PDP cannot be trusted to perform well if the party cannot put its house in order.

“The launch of PDP’s presidential campaign today in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was, as expected, a disaster waiting to happen. Once again, the delinquent PDP continued to treat the now discerning Nigerian public with disdain and disrespect,” the statement reads.

“Aside from the obscenity of a poorly-scripted farce misnamed a flag-off, Nigerians suffered today additional trauma of having to witness a show of shame, listening to a litany of falsehoods spewed out at the gathering by failed, expired and rejected politicians. Speaker after speaker kept echoing a farrago of incomprehensible political jargons that left most Nigerians wondering whether it was a circus.

“For example, if not the loss of the sense of shame, what else could have goaded PDP’s now discredited “sit tight” National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to be audacious enough to stand on a podium today in Uyo and make any promise to Nigerians? Has he been able to fulfill the promise he made to himself and his party members to step down from office should a Northerner emerge as the presidential candidate at their party primaries?

“How can a party that cannot unite itself promise to unite Nigeria? How can a party that brazenly violates its own constitution on zoning be trusted to obey the constitution of Nigeria if again trusted with power?

“When you have a flag-off campaign that is shunned by the National Vice-Chairmen of the South-South, South-West, and five sitting Governors out of thirteen, that is a definitive and resounding red-flag that Nigerians should not vote the Presidential candidate of the PDP in this coming election.”

Keyamo also cited a reference to the recent allegations of bribery involving PDP officials, and praised the decision by some members of the party’s national working committee (NWC) to return funds said to have been paid by the party as housing allowance.

“Fortunately, to the benefit of Nigerians, there remains a few good men within PDP. These honourable men belonging to the party’s NWC, deemed it right to return hundreds of millions of Naira allegedly transferred into their individual bank accounts as “hush money” to suppress the investigation of the scandal of humongous financial misappropriation levelled against their National Chairman,” Keyamo said.

“It is quite obvious to Nigerians that the PDP is a house that is divided against itself and it sure won’t stand. At their presidential campaign flag-off in Uyo today, the absence of many of the PDP State Governors tells a story to Nigerians that no amount of political jamboree can whitewash PDP’s cracked walls.

“It tells a story of a budding autocratic leadership, nourished by impunity, which now fans the flame of divisions and absolute disrespect for laid down rules and regulation.

“Not much should, therefore, be expected from such a gathering. With the obvious inability of its Presidential Candidate to assuage frayed nerves of disaffected persons within their ranks, how will it be possible for such a person to unite people within such a diverse landscape as Nigeria?

“You definitely cannot give what you don’t have.”