PDP tackles APC over boast to stay beyond 32 years in office

ABUJA – Governor Mai Mala Buni, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has envisioned an APC-led government beyond eight terms, which would ensure unfettered implementation of the party’s manifestoes and improvement of the welfare of the people. 

But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said APC plan to remain in power for the next 26 years is a direct confrontation to the generality of Nigerians. 

The Yobe State governor and Chairman, APC Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Committee (CECPC), stated the party’s vision while inaugurating the 61-member Strategy and Contact Committee headed by Jigawa State governor, Abubakar Badaru. 

Buni said the Strategy and Contact Committee was constituted to “consolidate the achievements” made by the CECPC towards building a strong party with solid structures that would help the party stand the test of time. 

To this end, he said the committee would serve as a transition body towards the coming congresses of the party. 

He noted that stakeholders had made “collective drive to recover, rebuild, and reposition our party”, stressing that members of the present committee were picked based on merit and not on state by state basis. 

Thumbing up the CECPC, Gov Buni boasted that the committee had performed satisfactorily in managing the crisis that threatened the party. 

He observed that the APC was now running an inclusive administration. 

He said: “I am glad to state with a sense of satisfaction that the committee has, within this period, made tremendous achievements by recording genuine reconciliations and settling irreconcilable differences among critical stakeholders of the party. 

“I am happy to say that the committee is running an all-inclusive administration, giving all stakeholders and indeed our members the opportunity to contribute in the onerous task of rebuilding the party. 

“The Caretaker/Extraordinary committee has continuously engaged our members to serve in various committees thereby supporting us to effectively manage the crises within the party. 

“The achievements recorded within this period of time were made possible with the generous support and cooperation the committee is enjoying from every member of the party. 

“This has translated into massive return of stakeholders and their supporters who had earlier jettisoned the party. 

“On the other hand, our efforts in wooing members of other political parties into the APC have recorded remarkable and unprecedented successes. 

“Another major milestone we have recorded as a party is the membership registration and revalidation exercise which has given every member of our party a true sense of belonging. 

“The membership registration would provide us with the numerical strength of the party and to serve as a guide towards planning.” 

He said the ongoing review of the party’s constitution would take care of “ambiguous positions and loopholes that have caused confusion and controversies over the years”, as he expressed confidence that the APC would emerge a dynamic party. 

However, the PDP also described APC’s claim of registering 36 million Nigerians in their registration exercise as another political hoax and empty claim, which cannot sway Nigerians in any way. 

The PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was aware that Governor Mai Mala Buni made such a garrulous statement in the belief that APC’s intimidation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the judiciary and security agencies as well as deployment of thugs from neighbouring countries, will help them to subvert the will of Nigerians in future elections. 

“In Buni’s whims and thoughtlessness, Nigerians should make themselves ready for another 26 years of anguish, pains, hunger and starvation, insecurity and limitless suffering. This is the height of recklessness, insensitivity and affront to the sensibilities of Nigerians,” the party said. 

The PDP counseled the APC to end its pipe dreams and arrogant boasting and wake up to the reality that its tenure in office as well as its life as a political party will meet an inevitable end in 2023.