- Laments President demonstrated his preference for party politics above governance
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday chided the Buhari Presidency for resorting to false poll sweep claims on the December 5 bye-elections, describing it as another desperate measure to divert public attention from its manifest failures.
The leading opposition party also mocked President Muhammadu Buhari for assuming the role of an emergency spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a bid to launder the image of the dying party.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Sunday said “results coming from the States of the long list of bye-elections show definitely that our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), remains the chosen party of Nigerians.”
In a statement by Presidential Spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, President Buhari said: “We do not take this confidence of the people for granted and we will not fail them. Nigerians who appreciate the efforts of the administration in making life better for all citizens, especially under an economy facing the severest test from the global Coronavirus pandemic will not be disappointed.”
But in a statement Monday by the party’s Spokesperson, Kola Ologbodiyan, “the PDP asserts that President Buhari has by this confirmed that he has indeed become a lame duck President, having abdicated his presidential responsibilities of securing the nation and managing the economy to issuing press statements for APC and struggling for media space, as spokesperson and image launderer of the party.
“Perhaps Mr. President’s handlers ought to have informed him that out of the six senatorial bye-elections, the PDP freely swept three in free, fair and credible contests, while the APC only muscle the other three in polls that were marred by manifest irregularities and rigging.
“Moreover, the PDP is in clear lead in Zamfara where the INEC returning officer, Prof. Ibrahim Magatawa, openly betrayed the plot between INEC and APC to allocate votes for the APC and rig the Bakura State Constituency bye-election.
“The shameful enterprise witnessed in Zamfara only goes to further confirm how the APC rigged isolated bye-elections in Katsina, Kogi, Borno and Lagos where INEC officers were used to allocate fictitious figures away from the genuine ballots cast, which placed the PDP in clear lead.
“Such resort to rigging by the APC only confirmed its heightened unpopularity given the failures of its administrations both at federal and state levels, including wrecking our economy and pampering terrorists, bandits and kidnappers who are ravaging our communities and murdering our compatriots in the most vicious manner.
“Indeed, no well-meaning Nigerian can truly support such a corrupt party and incompetent government that have not only failed but has also roundly betrayed our nation, looted our treasury, destroyed our pride as a country and brought so much hardship and suffering to the people in a space of five years.
“It is indeed appalling that at a time Nigerians expect Mr. President to frontally tackle the escalated insecurity under his incompetent watch, particularly in dealing with the recent massacre in Borno state, he is more interested in praise singing of a party that have been rejected by Nigerians.
“Such dereliction of duty is a direct spat on the victims of mindless killings in our country and an insult on the generality of suffering Nigerians.
“As a party, the PDP asserts that since Mr. President has demonstrated his preference for party politics above governance, he should take a crash course on party spokesmanship, relocate to the APC national secretariat to join Alhaji Mai Bala Buni and leave governance for more capable and competent hands to pilot the affairs of our nation.”