National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday took a swipe at the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, describing its manifesto as lacking in character and completely empty.
Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, the PDP national Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh who was apparently reacting to the launch of APC’s Manifesto, said that the manifesto lacks direction and complete disorientated mind, adding that it was unfortunate that months after the registration, it was yet to conduct congresses at the ward, local government, state and national levels when the PDP had carried out several of such exercises.
The PDP spokesperson said that contrary to insinuations by APC that PDP has no code of conduct, the PDP had its Code of conduct in 2006 during Dr. Ahmadu Ali and Chief Ojo Maduekwe as Chairman and Secretary respectively.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the manifesto “as a product of a Janjaweed ideology, a roadmap to anarchy which is typical of all anti-democratic coalitions.” The manifesto lacks character, depth and completely addressed no issue.”
According to him, the manifesto which ranked security of lives and property low and gave no clue as to its preparedness to tackle terrorism was a tacit acknowledgment that the APC may be benefiting from the mayhem and knows more than meet the eyes about the spate of terror attacks in the country, adding, ” When last year in its first official outing, the leaders of the APC said terrorism in Nigeria would disappear within 100days of APC leadership, Nigerians did ask if they knew the characters in crime and their sponsors . APC gave silence as an answer while Nigerians kept wondering. Today, the Party has released its manifesto with loud silence on the matter so that Nigerians would not raise further questions on the face behind the terrorism mask.”
Speaking on job creation and war on corruption which the party projected as cardinal on its manifesto, the PDP said the APC has no credible recipe for job creation nor has it shown the strength of character to fight corruption more than the PDP does at the moment, adding, “The PDP created anti corruption agencies- the ICPC, the EFCC and established the Freedom of Information Act to further give teeth to the war on graft. The PDP led federal government has also shown no preferences in its battle on corruption as senior party leaders as well relations have at one time or another been made to face the law on charges of corruption.
“On the contrary , the leaders of the APC are the grand patrons of corruption as could be seen from the South West APC states where a kilometer of road is awarded at N1 billion in a topography that compares no where to the marshy South South and where the self styled leader imperially superintendents the finances of six states with mind boggling cases of corruption. ”
“The spirited defence for the suspended Central Bank Governor mounted by the APC was because the leaders of the party benefited immensely from the regime of sleaze that took place under Sanusi. A fraudulent 84 billion contract was awarded to a leader of the party while another 5billion Naira was paid to another stalwart of the party as consultancy fee.
“Nothing showcases the anti-democratic ambience of the APC than its inability to conduct a properly constituted congresses and convention to elect its substantive officers almost a year after formation, clearing stating that ” the strange bed fellows have merged but the structures are refusing to integrate, hence , crisis and disagreements in its ranks.
“This disagreements played out on the high table today at the party’s summit as one of its leaders , Sen. Modu Sherif pointedly accused the leadership and the organizers of excluding and marginalizing a section of its founders. With persistent in-fighting at this cradle, how does APC hope unify Nigerians and guarantee the survival of democracy.”
Metuh who described as tissue of lies, the claim by the APC that it was the first party to lunch a code of conduct, said, ” In 2006, the PDP launched a comprehensive code of conduct under an ominibus entitled “Survival Kit.” This kit contained documents such as Desirable Qualities Of A Member and Code of Conduct for PDP aspirants and candidates .
” We also have the Peoples Democratic Institute, an intellectual arm of the party whose major work is the systemic research, inculcation and internalization of democratic ethos.”
Noting that the recent opinion poll which the APC said it derived its manifesto was familiar product from political party that subsists in lies and deception, said, “They sponsored same in Anambra and their governorship candidate , Chris Ngige came a distant third. This is after they sponsored same in Ondo where its candidate in the governorship election, Rotimi Akeredolu also came third. The unseen thrust of the APC manifesto is to balkanize Nigeria and cause disaffection among the people, citing the deportation of Nigerians from Lagos by an APC governor.”
