• Nigerians no longer believe opposition PDP party’s lies – Presidency
Ndubuisi Orji and Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) yesterday alleged that there was a plan to illegally remove the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, from office, as Senate President and Deputy Senate President.
READ ALSO: Ekweremadu exposes plots against him
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it is aware of plots perfected in a meeting with some APC senators, on Wednesday night, to forcefully reconvene the Senate with the aid of security agencies, so as to remove Saraki and Ekweremadu.
The party said the desperation to “illegally” take control of the National Assembly is part of the “plans to undermine our democratic institutions in the country and foist a dictatorship.” The PDP noted that it has majority of senators in the Senate, stating that it will explore every legitimate avenue to protect the nation’s democracy.
The statement recalled the siege on the residences of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, in addition to the invasion of the Benue State House of Assembly in a failed attempt to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom and forcefully take over the state.
READ ALSO: Benue youth group condemns impeachment move against Ortom
The PDP referred to its earlier allegation that there was plan to enmesh the 2019 general election in controversy by asking for virement of funds already approved in the 2018 budget for development projects instead of sending a fresh supplementary budget for the election.”
Meanwhile, the Presidency has washed its hands off DP’s claims that President Buhari had taken a 10-day leave as a ploy to pave way for the impeachment of the Saraki and Ekweremadu.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement, described the allegations as ridiculous and a hollow narrative to garner cheap sympathy, stating that Nigerians no longer believe PDP lies.
He said Buhari is a confirmed democrat, who has handed over to his vice, Yemi Osinbajo, a thing the PDP never did in 16 years, insisting the opposition party saw “monumental mismanagement and sadistic plunder.”
Shehu said the PDP was peddling falsehood because it’s afraid its old records will be reopened.
The statement read: “Claims by the failing Peoples Democratic Party that President Muhammadu
Buhari had taken a 10-day leave, in order to leave the stage for illegal and unconstitutional actions by the administration are both ridiculous and a hollow narrative to garner cheap sympathy.
READ ALSO: Buhari to visit London on 10-day vacation
“That the president, himself a sworn democrat, had handed power to his deputy without compulsion is exemplary and innovative, something that the PDP failed to produce in their 16 years of monumental mismanagement and sadistic plunder.
For the benefit of the doubters, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, the vice president who acts in the absence of the president is a lawyer of the highest rank and a social rights crusader, who had received local and international acclaim before he took the president office. It is inconceivable that this is the team to copy the bad manners cast in stone in the PDP.
“We welcome objective criticism and take them seriously and humbly, but Nigerians must by now be tired of a party, the stock in trade of which is to cry wolf where there is none, ostensibly to spread negativity and distract the president’s attention from the cleansing operations he has been mandated carry out.
“The president is carrying out difficult reforms for the future growth of the country, such as the implementation of the ease of doing business, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the whistleblower process, and hundreds of others, including the massive investment in rail, roads and power. If such reforms had happened in 16 years of the PDP, it would have made things much better for the country.
“Instead, they seem to be fixated with a desperate quest for power, nothing but power for its own sake because they have nothing to offer. They draw a sadistic pleasure when things appear to be going wrongly, yet they offer nothing by way of remedy or solutions.
“The whole country is fighting corruption and the ordinary citizen is happy about all that is happening. The economic parameters have changed for the better, a clear indication that the administration’s political and economic strategies are working but the opposition is not interested.
“If the PDP doesn’t have anything that would help our farmers, women, the common man and the youth, they should just keep quiet. In the end, one thing Nigerians should take away from the cacophonous falsehoods from the PDP and the tenants back in their tent is that they all fear one thing, that their old records will be reopened.”
