The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday traded words over the state of the nation.
The chairman of PDP’s Caretaker Committee described March 28, 2015 as a day Nigerians voted scam as change.
Referring to the presidential election that brought in President Muhammadu Buhari , Makarfi said Nigerians were deceived and lied to by the ruling party.
A statement by the spokesman of the Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said Buhari’s election has left a scar in the lives of Nigerians.
The statement said: “Two years after, Nigeria is worse off than the APC met her in 2015. Our economy hibernated; the institutions are bastardized and reduced to personal estates of some officials in government; prices of most basic commodities sky rocketed beyond 200%; electricity is scarce and no concrete plans to improve on the structures left behind by the PDP administrations.
Insecurity is on the rise though with constant grandstanding that it has ‘technically defeated boko haram’; unbearable and confusing high foreign exchange market; increase in petroleum products against static income; INEC acting as one of the departments of the APC; constant misuse of most security agencies against citizens; the dilemma of herdsmen attacks and daily displacements of communities unhindered; lack of transparency and accountability in government business; harassments of high ranking judicial officers, etc.
“The list indeed is endless! Nigerians are witnessing the most cruel, insensitive and clueless government in the history of this country. It is obvious that the promise of ‘change’ by the APC before 2015 elections was misunderstood by Nigerians.
“We believe that the electorate who voted the APC on this fateful day misunderstood its ‘change’ promise to mean positive change but unknowingly, the APC actually promised negative ‘change’.
“No doubt, it’s a reversal of all the achievements of the PDP administrations, and the squandering of our collective destinies through pursuit of shadows. Disastrous!
“For the record, Nigerians have been scammed and we want to use this opportunity once again to remind Nigerians of the Mid-Term Report of the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, in May 2013 to compare the two years of this APC led governmnet since May 29, 2015.
“Finally, we wish to commiserate with all the families of those that the APC’s induced hardship and challenges led their loved ones to commit suicide in the last couple of weeks. May their souls rest in peace. As a party, we believe in prosperity for all, good governance and the well-being of all citizens of this great country, Nigeria”.
But the APC reminded the PDP that even though Nigerians have forgiven the years of misrule and mismanagement of the nation’s resources, they have not forgotten how they party left the country in ruin, leaving the people in a state of insecurity.
APC National Publicity Secretary of the APC Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said Nigerians have not forgotten how corruption was practically legalised under the PDP government.
Abdullahi said the APC decided not to dwell on the plethora of PDP sins, but to pick up the pieces and build a country that every Nigerians will be proud of, pointing out that while Nigerians are always ready to forgive the PDP for what they did to the nation, they will Abdullahi said: “All Progressives Congress (APC) finds Wednesday’s statement attributed to Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, the purported spokesperson of a rump of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) quite regrettable.
“As a Party that was formerly in the opposition, the APC is aware of the role a thriving opposition can play in sustaining democracy. However, it appears that the marginal group that Adeyeye belongs believe that it is only by attacking the APC that it can find its relevance or gain the upper hand in the PDP’s internecine war.
“We need to remind Adeyeye’s group however that although Nigerians may have forgiven the PDP, two years after the Party left the country in ruins, but we have not forgotten.
“Nigerians have not forgotten that it was under the PDP-led administration that the terrorist group, Boko Haram seized a sizable portion of Nigeria’s territory, created a Caliphate and hoisted its own flags.
“It took the APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari to reclaim our territory and pride. Today, Boko Haram insurgents are virtually defeated and are on the run, and no millimetre of Nigerian territory is currently held by the insurgents. We have forgiven, but we have not forgotten.
“Under the PDP, a Party that does not consider corruption to be stealing, corruption enjoyed an unprecedented prosperity. Nigeria recorded some of the most unimaginable, shocking and astounding cases of corruption ever experienced in our history, or in the history of any country.
“Funds meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition required to fight the Boko Haram insurgency were stolen by agents of government and shared among themselves. It was a classic case of kleptocracy.
“The PDP-led administration was sending soldiers to battle without weapons and sharing the money. Worse still, when soldiers protested the lack of weaponry, the PDP-led administration added wickedness to weakness and court-martialled them, sentencing some of them to death, and others to long terms of imprisonment.
“If Nigerians have gracious enough to forgive the PDP for the wanton corruption, we will not forget.
“Nigerians also remember that it was under the nose and watchful eyes of the PDP that over 250 Nigerian girls were abducted. It took the Party more than a month to even make a statement. PDP went about bandying conspiracy theories while innocent Nigerian girls were being held in captivity.
“Again, it took the APC-led administration to rescue some of the girls, while efforts are ongoing to free the rest. Yet, PDP had the audacity to counter the globally acclaimed hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls with their terribly insensitive #BringBackJonathan. We are willing to forgive even this; but we cannot forget.
“Nigerians will not forget that under the PDP, over 20 Nigerian youths died and thousands were seriously injured while looking for jobs. the PDP-led administration organised a fraudulent Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment exercise and lured young people desperate for jobs to various stadiums across the country after extorting them.
“In the end, the exercise ended in tears, sorrows and blood. None of those who survived got the job and, worse still; the officials responsible for the calamity were protected by the PDP. We cannot forget.
“Nigerians remember that under the PDP, whistle-blowing was a crime. When a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor exposed the stealing of $20 billion from the national treasury, he was suspended and hounded out of the government. We have not forgotten.
“If we have not been talking about this plethora of PDP iniquities, it is not because we have forgotten. Instead, we have chosen to pick up the pieces of the PDP wreckage and move the country forward. This, we have endeavoured to do in the last two years since Nigerians unanimously rejected the PDP for their wanton profligacy and misrule.
“Nigerians are a forgiving people, and that is why a self-appointed spokesman of what is left of the PDP could have the effrontery to make the kind of statements attributed to Adeyeye. But Nigerians will not forget in a hurry, the years of the locust.”
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