The All Progressives Congress (APC) has finally lost all democratic
credentials deserving of a ruling party, with President Muhammadu
Buhari’s high-handedness and coronation of former Edo state governor,
Adams Oshiomhole, as the National Chairman, at the Presidential villa,
without allowing for a free and fair congress as enshrined in their
constitution.
The APC has now practically become a party of “any thing goes” where
decisions are taken only according to the whims and caprices of
President Buhari in conjuction with his Presidency cabal.
It is therefore not surprising that deflated APC governors, who were at
the Villa meeting, acquiesced to the orders and preferences of President
Buhari because the APC has since lost its populist buoyancy and strength
with which it was berthed on 2014.
More appalling to this impunity are the reports of threats and
harassment of APC members who demanded for free and fair congress, as
well as those, indicating support for other aspirants other than
Oshiomhole.
It is obvious that the human rights abuses, intimidations, arrests and
detention of opposition and dissenting voices, including the
uncompromising members in the APC, as being witnessed in the persecution
of senators, are all spawned towards the 2019 re-election bid.
We invite Nigerians to note that the same Oshiomhole, who is burdened by
allegations of humongous corruption while serving as Edo state governor,
is the person President Buhari, the African Anti-Corruption Champion, is
pushing as the National Chairman of his party without taking him through
the rigours of due diligence checks.
We know that the Presidency has been jittery over mounting opposition
against President Buhari within the APC and, in their desperation to
clinch the party’s presidential ticket at all cost, finds a good ally in
the former Edo state governor, who by now should have been facing
investigation over allegations bordering on corruption.
Nigerians can now see that the APC is an ideologically vacuous vehicle
used to seize power in 2015 and which oppressive elements working for
President Buhari are also currently deploying to subvert the will of the
people ahead of the 2019 general elections.
On our part, the repositioned and rebranded PDP remains open and
committed to strict observance of all tenets and principles of internal
democracy, particularly in providing a level playing ground for all in
the process of electing officials and candidates for all position and
all levels of political engagements.
We therefore urge Nigerians to note the undemocratic proclivities of the
APC and President Buhari and rally with the PDP to return our nation to
the path of democracy, freedom, good governance and economic prosperity,
come 2019.
