Gentlemen
of the press, we have called you up this afternoon to, through you,
expose the hypocrisy, double standard and dictatorial proclivities of
the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Government in its orchestrated
anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.
Whereas the PDP has over time restated
its support for a credible, holistic fight against corruption, unfolding
events have confirmed our position that this administration is only
using the anti-corruption posture as a tool to witch-hunt PDP members
and perceived political opponents of APC government.
We are aware that having realized that
Nigerians have seen through their propaganda, deceit and lies, as well
as their ineptitude in handling governance, the APC government is now
mortally afraid of the on-going rebuilding in the PDP to take over power
in 2019, and is as such, applying every negative means to decimate our
great party, including the relentless victimization of our key members.
It is clearly manifest that the same
dictatorial tendencies manifested during the military regime of 1984 is
being presently applied in the polity in the attempt to discredit PDP
members and weaken our great party ahead of 2019.
The APC and its government have been
busy denigrating the PDP and trying to appropriate our achievements,
while at the same time blackmailing, hounding and harassing our elected
members with the aim to cow and force them to leave the PDP and join
their party.
We have verifiable reports from our key
members that agents of the APC have been approaching them to join the
APC with threats to use the EFCC to victimize them should they refuse.
The APC and its agents have been boasting that they have the powers to
deal with or spare any person, depending on the party such person
belongs to.
This clearly explains why the so-called
fight against corruption has been selective and focused against PDP
members, despite counsels by stakeholders that it should be holistic and
in accordance with the due process of the law.
The best example of the curious nature
of the war against corruption is the fact that former PDP governors and
ministers are being hounded and arrested over apparently orchestrated
petitions, while their APC counterparts, who have more damaging
petitions are being nominated for ministerial positions. Even other APC
former governors who have on-going corruption cases in court are being
rewarded with APC tickets for the forthcoming governorship elections in
Kogi and Bayelsa.
On the issue of Senator Godswill
Akpabio, we invite Nigerians to note that in the three rich states of
Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Lagos states, there were petitions against their
former governors. Whereas the former APC governors of Lagos and Rivers
were rewarded with ministerial nominations, their Akwa Ibom PDP
counterpart and the current Senate Minority Leader is being hounded by
the EFCC.
This is in spite of the common knowledge
that Akwa-Ibom under the Senator Akpabio is arguably the least indebted
state in Nigeria, and where the governor appropriately applied
available resources to effectively transform the state. We challenge the
APC to show Nigerians any of their governor that matched the feats
achieved in Akwa-Ibom under Senator Akpabio, whose only building in Uyo
is uncompleted and being built with verifiable bank loans.
The PDP therefore state categorically
that the orchestrated investigation of Senator Akpabio is politically
motivated and targeted at weakening the PDP for 2019 elections, by
virtue of his being the face of opposition in the National Assembly.
It is also part of the fight by the
Presidency to weaken the legislature as an arm of government and prevent
it from effectively carrying out its constitutional role of checks and
balances in a democracy.
As we speak, no APC member, despite the
public petitions of corruption and squandering of state funds, has been
invited or questioned by the EFCC. We challenge the EFCC, as an
anti-corruption agency, to show Nigerians any member of the APC it has
so far questioned, not to talk of being arrested since the emergence of
this administration, despite petitions against them.
Recall that even the case of former
Adamawa state Governor Murtala Nyako started before the advent of the
current administration but is now reportedly being worked on ostensibly
to extricate APC members involved.
This government has established itself
as a hypocritical regime that accommodates corruption, profligacy and
sleazes in government quarters while hoodwinking the people and
witch-hunting PDP members.
The hypocrisy of this administration
came to the fore with the show of insensitivity to the mood of the
nation as copiously demonstrated in Saturday’s ostentatious thanksgiving
party (with hundreds of millions of naira spent) by the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation, (SFG) Engr. Babachir David Lawal, at a
time the people of the North East geo-political zone, where he hails
from, are being ravaged by insurgency.
Finally, we request Mr. President to end
this dictatorial proclivity of selective anti-corruption war that has
characterized the APC government.
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
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