Okupe, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, said right from the time the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration came on board, chieftains of APC had tried everything to frustrate and make it impossible for the president to govern.
The statement observed that APC supporters were united in their peculiar hatred for President Jonathan, a reason his election was greeted by post-election crisis, culminating in the present Boko Haram challenge in the North.
The presidential aide, who wondered whether it was a crime for somebody from minority ethnic group to become president in the country, said APC could not be an alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The membership and composition of the APC is nothing progressive. They are ideologically ill-defined and seem to have come together for only one purpose, which is to grab power from PDP and united on one sentiment, which is their peculiar hatred for the person of President Jonathan. Is there an offence in being a president from a minority tribe?
“Those who cooperate with them from the North are not true mainstream northern politicians but rather anarchists and irredentists, who pursue political power based purely on ethnic sentiments.
“From the first day of the Jonathan presidency, these people have tried all methods to suffocate his administration and make it impossible for him to govern. Immediately the president was sworn in, he was made to contend with major post-election violence unprecedented in the annals of our political history.
“This paved the way for the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency, also to the level that was totally and absolutely unimaginable; reducing previous episodes like the Maitatsine riots and similar previous sectarian violence in the North look like a child’s play,” the statement read.
The presidency, however, noted that in spite of their efforts, Jonathan had been able to remain focused on delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians in a remarkable way.
“It is to the glory of God, tenacity of purpose and ingenious administrative capacity of Jonathan that, in spite of these overwhelming and daunting security crisis, the administration still records a most distinguished performance in terms of delivering remarkable dividends of democracy ever recorded in the annals of the history of Nigeria,” it said.
The presidency was of the view that the APC had not been able to forge a pragmatic agenda since coming on stream and had nothing better to offer than the PDP.
According to the statement, “isn’t it surprising too that since their coming together, Nigerians are yet to know what the APC stands for in terms of definite agenda? What do they have that is better than PDP? They have no official manifestoes, rather what we hear from one leader is a sharp contradiction from what we hear from another.
“For example, the leading ideologue of the APC in the North, General Muhammed Buhari, delivered a lecture in London, where he spoke unambiguously against the much talked about restructuring of the Nigerian federation, resource control, sovereign national conference and other core demands of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
“The other leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, went to a similar event recently and ingeniously listed out their proposed programmes on power, agriculture, and rail transportation, which are not in any way different from the contents of the transformation agenda of PDP.
“In spite the long years of existence of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and ACN, they have never been able to find credible personalities among their followers for national positions and offices. The ACN particularly is reputed to always outsource its presidential candidate to the PDP.
“It is not surprising, therefore, that in the new party’s national executive, six of its 11 members, which is about 60 per cent are former chieftains of PDP.
“In view of all these, it is clearly evident that the APC cannot and will not be an alternative to PDP.”
Source: Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment