Opposition Parties Determined to Oust PDP, Says Tinubu

The national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, has declared that the opposition political parties are determined to oust the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he said had been in power for 14 years with nothing to show for it.

Tinubu, who led some prominent members of the party on a visit to Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to settle internal wrangling in the party, however, also endorsed the governorship ambition of the incumbent governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

The ACN leader, who met with top shots of the party in the state at the Lady Jibowu Hall at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, said since Fayemi was not doing badly as a governor, there was no reason changing a winning team.

Expressing satisfaction with the performance of Fayemi, Tinubu noted that it would be better for Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, who was said to be nursing governorship ambition, to mellow down on his ambition to govern the state, saying everybody in the party would get his or her
appropriate time to vie for elective positions.

Present at the occasion were the National Chairman of ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of the old Ondo State, Bamidele Olumilua, former governor of Ekiti State, Niyi Adebayo, Senator Femi Ojudu and state chairman of the party, Jide Awe.

On the observation that some loyalists of Bamidele in the state were being side-lined, the former Lagos State governor ordered that there should be a reconstitution of ward executives of the party in the affected areas.

Bamidele, who served as a commissioner under Tinubu in Lagos State, has been at loggerheads with Fayemi and some party leaders in the state over his ambition to contest the 2014 governorship election.

Describing the PDP as a waste that Nigerians must do away with in the forthcoming elections for the country to move forward, Tinubu said:

“But we are determined to oust the PDP. They have been in power for so long and they have not been able to use the power to develop humanity and Nigerian populace; what a waste.”
According to him, the PDP had not been able to bring any meaningful development to the country 14 years after being in power.

He described the new merger party, All Progressives Congress (APC), as a party determined to bring positive change to the country.

He added: “The APC is about change; positive change for this country. The other party (PDP) has been in power in the last 14 years but had made power the cornerstone of its policy. They know nothing about change for the people, change for better.

“Unless Nigerians are satisfied with punishment, unless Nigerians are satisfied with the level of poverty, unless Nigerians are not angry with the level of unemployed youths in this country that is why they will not change PDP.

“But we are determined to oust the PDP. They have been in power for so long and they have not been able to use the power to develop humanity and Nigerian populace; what a waste.”

Tinubu, who described the meeting as a “family affair of our party,” said the leaders had been able to resolve all grey areas that could act as stumbling blocks to the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections.

He added, “The INEC has not declared the date of the election; but while we are developing the new party, to which we have applied in alliance with people, some other areas of conflict resolution mechanism that will make our party stronger for the election ahead and future elections that is why we are here.”

Source: Thisday Live