Press
Statement
PDP Sympathises With Buhari, APC Leaders
Over Inability To Take Criticisms
The Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has sympathised with President Muhammadu Buhari and
leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over their inability to accept,
with equanimity, constructive criticisms of their administration.
In a statement on
Saturday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it was
unfortunate that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably
poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing
the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms.
“Unlike the APC that
denigrated the office and person of former President Jonathan by wrongly
depicting him as ‘clueless and incompetent’, the PDP remains the most decent,
mature and constructive opposition party in our democracy and we have evidenced
great respect for the person and exalted office of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“During the Goodluck
Jonathan presidency, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, while in the saddle as interim
Deputy National Secretary of the APC, in a post on his twitter page, described
President Jonathan as ‘lazy, docile, incompetent, clueless, hopeless and
useless leader.’ Other APC leaders made raining abuses on Jonathan a past time.
Olisa Metuh
“The PDP is a very
responsible opposition party; our leaders are mature; and we have demonstrated
so in our critique of the President’s responses during the maiden Presidential
Media Chat. We have reviewed President Buhari’s performance and concluded that
it was uninspiring
“The entire world
listened to President Buhari during the chat and went away with different
impressions. We did and came up with the theme of our initial reaction that
portrayed him very appropriately as a tyrant. And for purpose of clarity, a
tyrant is a ruler who has complete power over a country and who uses the power
in a cruel and unfair way, which was why we recommended the suspension of the
operation of the constitution so he can rule for the next four years as a
maximum ruler.
“In its reaction,
his party National Chairman, John Oyegun magisterially and dictatorially warned
that ‘we (APC) may not condone such anymore.’ Our position in the PDP is that
we are in trouble as a nation. All we hear from the APC regarding our freedom
is ‘we won’t tolerate’, ‘we won’t condone.’ Are these words used by democrats
or tyrants?
“So, the PDP too is
being warned and coerced on what to say as opposition party. The PDP must be
commended for the civil, responsible, mature, issue-based opposition it has
played. The nation knows how the APC rained insults on former President
Jonathan and that the PDP, during that time, never used words like ‘it would
not condone…’
“Some have even
criticised the PDP style of opposition as being too civil considering the
tyranny we are facing. That is why Chief John Oyegun could term a dictionary
word-‘tyrant’- as insulting. Nigerians do not need the PDP or anyone else to
make them decide if President Buhari’s APC government fits the definition of a
tyrant.
“The real trait of
the President was unraveled during the media chat. He has repeatedly shown his
scorn for the Legislature, an independent arm of government while sanctioning
security agencies’ disrespect for court orders and the impunity of continuous
incarceration of people who have been granted bails by the courts.
“Also from his
responses, the President has even pronounced a guilty verdict on Col Sambo
Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu of Radio Biafra even before the hearings by the courts.
Sadly, even the international community has noted this brazen scorn and disdain
for the independence of the judiciary.
“Furthermore, how do
we describe a President who openly denigrated an entire race as he did in the
media chat when he suggested that the Igbos were insatiable with the
appointments his government has so far given to them? Indeed, the timing and
the tenor of the President’s comment, given the security and political
situation in the land, remain worrisome, especially at a time a nerve-soothing
statement from the father of the nation could have reassured the agitators of
the need for peace and unity in the nation.
“Besides, it is sad
and embarrassing that President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade has now been
reduced to a war between the APC and the PDP as declared by the Office of his
spokespersons. Since they have confirmed that this is what the anti-corruption
crusade is all about, the APC is obviously seeking to destroy the PDP so that
it can push through Buhari’s second tenure in 2019 without opposition from the
PDP.
“This has also
confirmed our concern that this is the reason the Federal Government is
persecuting, and not prosecuting, Col. Sambo Dasuki. The APC and its leaders
fear that Dasuki, given his vast political and security network, may be
harbouring a presidential ambition, more so that the PDP has zoned its
presidential ticket to the north.
“The PDP is
conversant with the sinister plan by the APC-led Federal Government to
completely decimate our party by raking up all manner of allegations of
corruption against the Goodluck Jonathan administration and leaders of the PDP
with a view to taking them to court on orchestrated charges.
“Finally we are
aware that President Buhari has directed security agencies to be more vicious
in dealing with our members and has continued to subtly coerce the Judiciary to
convict those being charged to court. But what gives us joy is that President
Buhari is not God and we will not worship him.
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
National Publicity Secretary
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