The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday taunted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of inadvertent collaboration with it to foist a one-party state on Nigerians.
Deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena in a statement said the main opposition party lacks the depth to critically interrogate the policies and programmes of the ruling party and ultimately, put its leaders on their toes.
The APC argued that the lack of focus on the part of PDP leadership was responsible for the defection of its chieftains to the ruling party.
It claimed that the “progressive-minded members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been the ones defecting en masse from the opposition party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent times.”
Nabena tasked other opposition political parties to seize the initiative of leading the opposition flank from the PDP, submitting that the ruling party was interested in “rigorous and intelligent interrogation of our policies and programmes by the opposition which the PDP has woefully failed to do.”
The statement further read in part: “It is not surprising that progressive-minded members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been defecting en masse from the opposition party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent times.
“For a party unable to run its secretariat, pay staff salaries and its leadership grappling with a crisis of confidence, it will be unfair to expect its progressive-minded members to remain in the PDP which has failed woefully as the supposed ‘main’ opposition party in Nigeria.
“It is disheartening that the PDP is pushing Nigeria into a largely one-party state. As a party that believes in democracy and progressive politics, the APC does not subscribe to this. We, therefore, challenge other opposition political parties to take the place of the PDP because even as the governing party, we recognize the importance of rigorous and intelligent interrogation of our policies and programmes by the opposition which the PDP has woefully failed to do.
“Recall that APC recently welcomed the Governor of Ebonyi State, David Nweze Umahi and Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Elisha Abbo. This is in addition to the earlier return of many prominent party members and leaders including, former PDP national chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Dr Alex Otti among others.
“As a party, the APC welcomes new and returning entrants who have come to work with the President Muhammadu Buhari APC-led administration to improve the lives of Nigerians and overall better our dear country.
“The party ranks greatly appreciate the important work the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) under the Chairmanship of Governor Mai Mala Buni is doing to reposition the party by accommodating all interests and ensuring peace, unity, fairness, equity, justice and inclusion and internal democracy in our great party.
“The Governor Buni-led CECPC is working assiduously and has achieved great success in ensuring that the party is repositioned, united, and conducts the planned membership registration, update and revalidation exercise to produce a clean, credible and authentic national membership register ahead of the planned national convention.”
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