By; DAHIRU SULEIMAN, Dutse
The National Chairman of the opposition party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu has stated that the only achievements of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last six years of governance, is the pushing of 40 million Nigerians into extreme poverty, and instilling fear from unabated security challenges with no solution in sight.
“In the last six years, the APC-led government has mismanaged our diversity; divided the country along regional and religious lines. It has exacerbated religious tensions in the country. And through its marriage to nepotism, the incompetent APC- Federal Government is fueling secessionist agitations in the East and West of Nigeria”
Reacting on the state of the nation while briefing the press, Chief Ayu noted, “Our task at this auspicious moment is firstly to reposition our party in facing the great task of restructuring the fading glory of the country which was bastardized by APC government in the last six years if given the mandate.”
According to him, in doing that, their party needs to be reinvigorated, reinvented and repositioned.
“We are not unmindful of our missed steps and actions in the past, but we have learnt our lessons, both in government and in opposition. Today, we stand tall, and with a firm resolve to rebuild our great party and rescue our nation.
“It is shameless that the APC used both the mainstream media and the social media to access power. Today, it coordinates a systematic assault on the media, civic freedoms and freedom of speech. Let me give you the grim legacy of the APC: Two economic recessions in six years. A sluggish GDP growth rate of below two per cent.
“About 40 million Nigerians have been pushed into extreme poverty in six years. Inflation is at an all-time high at 18%. A weak and devalued Naira; devalued by over 300% since 2015, has made our currency the worst in Africa. Unemployment now stands at 33%. Meaning: Close to 40 million Nigerians, willing and able to work, can’t find jobs.
“A total debt stock of over $90 billion now hangs over Nigeria. An erratic exchange rate regime has depleted N324 against the US Dollar in the last six years. Kidnapping for ransom is now big business. We share sovereignty with terrorists who kidnap and rape our women, including our mothers and under-aged children.The terrorists even kill them when ransom is delayed.
“These are not political alarms, but statements of facts.
“But I stand here today, not to merely recount APC’s spectacular failures. I stand here to assure you that PDP is back to Rescue and Rebuild Nigeria. Under the new NWC, PDP will strengthen its internal democratic processes. We shall endeavour to reach out to all party members, young and old, male and female.
“The PDP is the only organic political party in Nigeria that has remained a credible, tested, and trusted mass movement since the return of democracy in 1999. Other political parties have either fizzled away or merged with others.
According to him, some of these parties have mutated into a contraption like the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), without any clear ideology or a coherent programme of action. This contraption seduced Nigerians with propaganda in 2015. Today, Nigerians have seen the limit of propaganda and demagoguery. The only thing the APC is doing successfully is irresponsible borrowing.
“PDP, on the other hand, has a history of performance and legacy achievements. In our 16 years in power, we not only gave Nigerians good governance, we also strengthened democratic institutions so as to add value to the people. In an unprecedented move, we stabilized our democracy by sanitizing the armed forces of politically exposed officers.
“We gave Nigeria her first-ever successful transition from one civilian administration to another in 2007. To the disbelief of all watchers of African politics, we willingly conceded defeat in 2015, and handed over power to an opposition party in 2015.”
Dr. Ayu also stated that It was the PDP-Federal Government that created value-adding public institutions like the EFCC, ICPC, NAFDAC, the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) among many others.
“Also it was our party that strengthened the governance process by enacting laws to effectively drive public administration in Nigeria, namely: the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Mid-Term Expenditure Frame-Work, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personal and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS) just to mention a few.
“We negotiated and obtained forgiveness of over $30 Billion of debt, making Nigeria almost a debt-free country. Foreign direct investments flowed in. Cumulatively, the foregoing made Nigeria, not only the fastest growing economy in Africa, but also the biggest economy on the continent.
“From the biggest economy in 2015, the APC has given the country two recessions and turned Nigeria into the Poverty Capital of the world. Today, close to 40 million Nigerians have no jobs.”
Dr. Ayu assured Nigerians that, “We shall return the party to vigorous discussions; pay serious attention to new thinking and the implementation of policies and programmes that will secure and improve the quality of life of all Nigerians.
“The Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) will be revived and strengthened to drive this process. Before the next election cycle, we shall present a PDP manifesto that will bring back hope to our people.”
