We have no hands in PDP crisis – FG

The Federal Government has distanced itself from the protracted crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, making it clear that it has no interest in the affairs of the party.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Engineer Babachir David Lawal, said in an exclusive interview in Abuja, that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is not afraid of criticism from any quarter, provided such is constructive.

The SGF spoke when he played host to the management team of the Daily Times newspaper led by its Chairman/Publisher, Mr Fidelis Anosike in his office in Abuja.

There have been insinuations in some quarters that the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, has been fueling the leadership crisis which has bedeviled the opposition PDP for months now, thus factionalizing the party along Senator Ahmed Makarfi-s faction and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s camp.

Lawal categorically stated that APC neither has hand nor interest in what happens in PDP.

His words, “We are not afraid of the PDP. It is not in our interest, as a government, to have one party in Nigeria. We need a multi-party democracy and a strong opposition party in the country.

“President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President have never indicated interest in what goes on within PDP. APC has no hand, no interest in what is happening in PDP. For us, a peaceful and harmonious PDP is good for us as government”, he stressed.

He added that neither the factions within the fold of the PDP nor their leaders constitute a threat to the governing APC.

According to him, “This government is not afraid of the press. We welcome criticisms. Such will help us to focus on the direction the people think we should go and also help us to make amend where necessary.

The Chairman/Publisher of the Daily Times newspapers, Mr. Fidelis Anosike, in his comments, noted that the government needed to put more emphasis of what he called strategic communication, stressing that it was important for the people to always know what the government is doing at every point in time.

Anosike argued that it is only when the people know what the government is doing that they (the people) will have belief in the government and its programmes.

The Chairman/Publisher told the SGF that the choice which some Nigerians made in the past is what is presently hunting the generality of the people.

Anosike, while assuring that Daily Times newspaper was ready to partner with the present administration in the area of strategic communication, maintained that it is very important to make corruption in governance unattractive in the interest of the development of the country.