You Are Still A Dictator- PDP Tells Buhari ….APC Anti-Corruption Crusade, A Sham


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