The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop posturing “as if they truly have the mandate of Nigerians for a second tenure in the Presidency after rigging the 2019 Presidential election won by Atiku Abubakar.”
The PDP is of the view that President Buhari is trying to use another promise of true federalism to “earn legitimacy for a rigged election, a ploy that is dead on arrival, as Nigerians are very much aware that he and his party, the APC, have never shown any commitment towards true federalism.”
Recall that the President had last week spoke of the need for true federalism after seeming to have been against the idea for a log while.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, PDP maintained that Nigerians have already bought into Atiku’s blueprint for governance, particularly his manifest genuine commitment towards the implementation of true federalism and cannot fall for empty promises by President Buhari and the APC.
The statement added: “President Buhari ought to have known that Nigerians have seen through APC’s empty promises and beguilements and as such, cannot jettison the presidential mandate they gave to Atiku Abubakar, who they know have the commitment and will power to implement true federalism in our country, when he retrieves his mandate at the courts.
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“Nigerians have not forgotten how President Buhari in his 2018 New Year address, rejected the idea of restructuring, by declaring that “When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure.”
“They can also recall how on June 9, 2017, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, in a Radio Nigeria (FRCN) interview programme, had stated that restructuring is not President Buhari’s priority.
“Nigerians can also recall how the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, on June 29, 2017, during an interview on Channels TV, denied that the APC promised restructuring and described Nigerians, who are taking his party to task on the issue, as “political opportunists and irresponsible” people.
“Our citizens have not forgotten ‘to hell with restructuring,’ outburst of Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, a statement that captures the mindset of the totality of APC leaders towards true federalism and restructuring.”
The PDP therefore counseled President Buhari’s handlers to help him use the remaining part of this tenure to find solutions for the problems caused by “his incompetent administration, instead of engaging in unnecessary acceptance shopping mechanisms for a rigged 2019 presidential election.”
It observed Nigerians are determined that Atiku will retrieve his stolen mandate at the court and they look up to him for a transparent, honest and purposeful administration, committed to repositioning our nation, including building institutions that will engender true federalism, good governance, national cohesion and economic prosperity in our nation.
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