The national chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof Iyorchia Ayu, on Monday, observed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressive Congress (APC) government is the biggest cancer afflicting the country.
Speaking while receiving in a courtesy call, a delegation of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) led by its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, at his residence in Abuja, he said leaving APC in government for another eight years will spell doom for Nigeria.
According to him, it will be a disaster that will lead to the break-up of the country.
Ayu said: “I have no personal quarrel with President Buhari or all the people working with him in the villa. In fact, some of them are my friends like the Chief of Staff, Professor Gambari.
“I respect him, he’s a friend of mine for years, but he’s in the wrong government. Why should a decent Nigerian like him be doing there?”
He observed that the administration has destroyed the quality of life in the country through nepotism and excessive borrowings, which he said will constitute a burden to generations to come.
The incoming party boss stated: “What is it that APC as a government has done wrong? For example, they are destroying the quality of life of this country, dividing our people by nepotism, they are borrowing money heavily, decreasing the lives of Nigerians and generations to come will be paying off those debts. They are not investing that money into any productive venture.
“Nigeria seems to have the worst currency in Africa. See Somalia that’s a fail state, is doing better than Nigeria. Our currency is in a free fall. That is because we are an import-dependent economy. The quality of lives of Nigerians is going down.
“You have the duty to educate Nigerians that eight more years of this government will cause complete disaster for the country. It will lead to the breakup of this country and everything should be done to educate Nigerian to democratically remove this government because they are the biggest cancer affecting Nigeria today at every level even their governors.”
The former Senate president berated the Governor of Yobe state, Mala Mai Buni, for abandoning the state in favour of the office of the chairman of the ruling party’s national caretaker committee, and permanently residing in Abuja, saying that it shows the lack of seriousness in the APC.
Ayu stated: “if you look at their governors, they are the worst in this country. How can a governor leave his state for years and stay in Abuja because he is the National Chairman of political party. Who is governing your state? That is how unserious they are, they have no intention directed to the people who elected them.”
He called for collaboration with other political parties to checkmate the APC, urging the CUPP to work with PDP as according to him, it will be better to work together with a common sense of purpose.
Earlier, Ugochinyere, while congratulating Ayu on his election as PDP chairman, expressed hope that his emergence will reposition the opposition coalition in the run-up to the 2023 polls.
He said: “We believe that once you are sworn in you will help to rebuild the coalition to make it more stronger this time around so that together all of us can work and ensure that the country gets the kind of leadership they deserve in 2023.”
On the evolution of the CUPP, Ugochinyere told Ayu that during the turn of the 2019 general election, the PDP came up with a wonderful idea to have a strong coalition that will help to mobilise Nigeria for a strong election and “that was how the birth of the Coalition of United Political Party (CUPP) was formed and we signed that accord at the Yar’Adua Center.”
Explaining the rationale for the visit to the party leader, the CUPP spokesman said, “We came here to congratulate you on your emergence as the National Chairman of the PDP and why your emergence is so important to us is because we looked at your track record, track record in the sense that you are the kind of person, who can be described as a quality holder of Democratic values from 1992-1993 when you emerged as the Senate President and everybody know how strong you stood on issues of democracy.
“And the role you played that helped PDP come to power in 1999. These are things that made us believe that the party has come home and has brought one of its finest to lead the party.”
Tribune