From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has requested the National Assembly to quickly conclude deliberations on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill either by overriding President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto or deleting areas of complaints
It described the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a massive failure when compared with the records of the PDP in government.
The position is contained in a communique issued at the end of the forum’s meeting at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, and read by Chairman of party’s governors’ forum and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal.
It advised that the option of sustaining Mr. President’s veto would lead to a quicker resolution and would deny him (Buhari) the opportunity to once again truncate a reformed electoral jurisprudence for Nigeria.
“An early concluded Electoral Act is vital for credible elections.”
The forum also claimed the PDP handed over a bouyant economy to the APC-led Federal Government in 2015.
“The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa). But, under APC, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per dollar. It is now under APC almost N500 to a dollar; In 2015, unemployment rate was 7.3 percent under PDP; it is now 33 percent, one of the highest in the world under APC.
“The Nigerian economy has continued to deteriorate and Nigerians have become numb and accustomed to bad economic news as exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures and borrowing spree some of which have not been applied to important projects, and other bad economic indicators.
“In particular, it is clear the APC government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government. In 2015, the pump price of petroleum was N87 per litre. It is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC. Debt servicing now under APC takes over 98 percent of the federal budget. The tales of woe is endless.”
The governors lamented the continued insecurity, the persistent and ceaseless flow of Nigerians’ blood on a daily basis in many parts of Nigeria and the near collapse of the security situation in the country.
Also, the governors noted the strategies to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals which are still a major problem of the APC administration. The PDP governors expressed regrets that Buhari is unwilling, from his recent comments discountenancing the proposals for state policing, to participate in reviewing the structural problems of tackling insecurity in Nigeria. It urged the president to reconsider his position and consider decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for security agencies.
The PDP governors noted that the management of oil and gas resources and the administration of federation account remittances have remained opaque, confusing and non-transparent.
It said: “In addition, the transition to NNPC Ltd. under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of government are protected, consistent with the 1999 Constitution.”
The meeting urged eligible Nigerians from all walks of life, particularly the youths, to register en masse with the Independent National Electoral Commission to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general election. It further noted that the next election (2023) “is a very consequential election that should be used to end the dominance of very youth unfriendly APC government.
“A government that had the arrogance to deny Nigerian youths of the use of Twitter, a business friendly tool for the young, for over a year. The youths should empower themselves to determine who leads them.”
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, has said the current inept rule of the APC-led Federal Government, which has pulled the country backwards economically has to be changed.
He gave the assurance at a gala night event hosted by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for PDP governors at the Banquet Hall of Government House, Port Harcourt on Sunday.
Ayu emphasised that the APC leadership has been unable to harness the rich diversity of Nigerians into better fortunes that should strengthen the bond of brotherhood and promote peaceful co-existence.
“Unfortunately, a very poor leadership has presented Nigeria at home and abroad as an extremely divided country.”
“We must change this narrative and the only way to change this narrative and harness not just the culture, but the environment and the richness therein, is to back the PDP which is determined to produce a new leadership for this country.”
Ayu also enthused that Nigeria would bounce back again with the PDP at the saddle because the project of rescuing the country and making it great is realisable.
The PDP national chairman said the expected leadership they would offer at the national level will change the negative characteristics associated with the APC that has been used to deepen the divide among Nigerians in the country.