PDP Has Raped Our Economy, Says Buhari

The President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has declared that ruling Nigeria, will be very dif­ficult due to what he termed “colos­sal rape of its economy and leader­ship deficit by the outgoing ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

The PDP has also, however, de­scribed Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as bad winners.

The National Publicity Secre­tary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, in a statement issued in Abuja, also ex­pressed concern over what it called the apparent indifference of Buhari to burning national issues, which were threatening the unity of the country.

Buhari, while speaking in Yola, at a town hall meeting on Wednesday, noted that “for Nigeria to get out of the woods, there should be commit­ment and perseverance on the part of the leadership of the country, but, the new government will do its best to put things in the right per­spective,’’ he said.

While thanking Nigerians for voting in the APC during the last Presidential and National Assem­bly polls, he said the country was endowed with human and natural resources, ‘’but, unfortunately, the resources were mismanaged and squandered, leading to the present situation being experienced in the land.

‘’Although, many expect that things will change in a day, it’s not so, because it will take us some years to make changes. ‘Nigerians are in a haste, people should not see the change, that we are champion­ing, in a twinkle of an eye, we need patience and prayers for us to suc­ceed”, Buhari said.

He said corruption was like can­cer, which had inhibited the prog­ress of Nigeria, but, vowed to fight the scourge head-on and salvage the country from economic bank­ruptcy. ‘’We need to fight corrup­tion squarely, for Nigeria to move forward. We will run a transparent government, in doing so, I will not favour my family”, Buhari added.

The President-elect, accompanied by the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and other party officials, while cam­paigning for votes for the party’s candidates, told his audience, “l thank you for your votes and l ap­peal to you all to vote for APC candi­dates in the remaining elections in the state.

“We believe in you and we know that your support will enable us to serve you better. This is why we appeal to you to vote for Bindow Ji­brilla (as the governor) and all the House of Assembly members”, Bu­hari added.

The President-elect had, earlier, paid a courtesy call on the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Bar­kindo Aliyu Musdafa.

Meanwhile, the PDP in a seeming reaction, also expressed concern over what it called the apparent in­difference of the President-elect, to burning national issues threaten­ing the unity and stability of the country.

Metuh, in the statement issued noted that while well-meaning Ni­gerians and the international com­munity were celebrating the peace fostered by the patriotic action of President Goodluck Jonathan, in conceding defeat to Buhari, the President-elect and the APC had been acting in a way that could in­stigate crisis.

According to the statement, “while well-meaning Nigerians and the international community are celebrating the peace, fostered by the patriotic action of President Goodluck Jonathan in conceding defeat, General Buhari and the APC, have been moving around the country instigating division, engi­neering crisis and heightening ten­sion in the polity.

“Whereas, General Buhari had assured Nigerians that he would be the President of the entire na­tion and not of a political party, his actions, in the last one week, show otherwise, as he continued to dis­play sectionalism and insensitivity to matters inimical to the survival of our democracy and well-being of Nigerians

“Instead of settling down to plan a smooth transition and design ways of deepening democracy in appreciation of the mandate given to him, General Buhari has, tac­itly, encouraged his men to foment crisis and cause panic in the bid to muzzle personal freedom and im­pose a reign of terror in the land.

“For instance, General Buhari has remained indifferent to the cri­sis in Ekiti (State) where out-going APC lawmakers, who are supposed to be campaigning for the renewal of their mandates on Saturday, have been mobilised to Osogbo in Osun State by the APC to perfect an igno­ble plot to remove a democratically elected government in the state.

“APC’s ambition in Ekiti, coupled with its odious triumphalism in the aftermath of the presidential elec­tion, have led to avoidable confron­tations and near breakdown of law and order in the state, as the people rose to defend the mandate freely given to the PDP.

“In continuation of this display of arrogance in victory, Buhari’s men in Lagos, have dragged the re­vered traditional institution into the political fray with the Oba of La­gos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, threaten­ing death to supporters of the PDP, an action that has brought outrage from Nigerians with General Bu­hari playing the ostrich.

“It is, indeed, unfortunate that while his men are causing crisis and threatening Nigerians, General Buhari, instead of calling them to order, displays his insensitivity by moving around the country, cam­paigning for his party.

“If this sort of insensitivity and arrogance of victory are foretaste of what to expect in a Buhari Presi­dency, then our dear nation and its people are headed for a long trek in the wilderness”, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the PDP, in reaction to reports of mass defection from its fold, described the defectors as political Trojans, who, from within, have, ceaselessly, worked against the interest of the party and now fear to face sanctions for their ac­tions.

Stating that it would not miss such fair-weather members, the party commended the courage and steadfastness of its supporters and members, who have remained com­mitted to the cause and urged them to go a step further by emulating the Senate President, David Mark and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, in speaking out publicly in favour of the party’s ideals and vision of its founding fathers.

The PDP added that adequate machinery was already in place to reposition itself to regain power in the next four years, since it was ob­vious that the APC lacked qualities of good leadership.

It, therefore, called on Nigerians to use Saturday’s election to demon­strate their commitment to democ­racy, by voting en-masse for the PDP, bearing in mind that a vote for the party would be a vote for the unity and stability of the country.