Oshiomhole Vs Oyegun: ‘Leave Us Out Of Your Shameless Wrangling,’ PDP Tells APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to leave its part out of “its self-inflicted woes” after the APC accused the its former national chairman, John Oyegun, of helping the opposition party bounce back.

The APC on Tuesday accused the Oyegun-led past National Working Committee (NWC) of lacking “the courage required to confront the pockets of political despots who could not operate by the party’s rules” during the reign of the last APC NWC.

This comes after Oyegun called for the resignation of APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, warning that the ruling party was heading for doom with Oshiomhole as its chairman.

But in an interview on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC claimed that the PDP was able to bounce after the party’s defeat in the 2015 presidential election because the Oyegun-led NWC “did not live up to expectations,” and not because the opposition party “has changed its insidious way”.

According to Issa-Onilu, the “PDP was practically dead” after the 2015 elections, but because the APC under Oyegun was allegedly too weak, the opposition party found its way back to prominence.

“It goes without saying that when an organisation is unable to enforce its own rules, it would suffer the consequences sooner than later,” said Issa-Onilu, adding that, “We should not be ashamed to say that our party’s leadership under Chief Oyegun lacked the courage required to confront the pockets of political despots who could not operate by the party’s rules.” 

But responding swiftly to the comments credited to the APC national spokesperson, the PDP urged the ruling party to face its woes alone and not drag its party into its crisis.

The opposition party said, “instead of seeking a face-saving measure by dragging the name of the PDP into its shameless internal wrangling, bordering on the incompetence, recklessness and treasury looting by its leaders,” the ruling part should face its problems alone.

The statement signed by the PDP national spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, reads in part:

“The PDP notes that the APC, by bringing out its dirty linen to the market place, at this time, has again demonstrated its insensitivity and contempt towards the values and feelings of Nigerians. How else can it justify its choice of fouling the national space at a time compatriots are observing the blessings of Eid el fitri?

“It is most reprehensible that after pushing Nigerians into anguish and economic misery, the crisis-ridden APC will not allow our people to celebrate the end of Ramadan in peace.

“It is imperative to state that the PDP, as a responsible party, will not join the APC in its shameless dance, yet, the APC must know that it must answer for its failures, depravities and unrestrained looting of our national treasury in the last four years.

“This is the same APC, whose National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, confirmed as a sanctuary of looters and unpatriotic people, when he declared that, “once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven”.

“It has also become clear to Nigerians that the APC is fixated on the PDP and has become feverish by the reinvention of the PDP to serve the interest of the people. This is in addition to the fact that majority of Nigerians now believe more in our party, the PDP, after seeing through the lies, deceit and failures of the APC and its government.

“The APC must face the truism that having divided our people, wrecked our once robust economy, returned our nation to a debtor status and brought so much misery to the extent that our compatriots now resort to suicide and slavery mission abroad as options, Nigerians cannot continue to lend it any support.

“The determined optimism expressed by majority of  Nigerians for the retrieval of our stolen Presidential mandate at the tribunal as well as the spontaneous jubilation across the country over the victory of the PDP in state governorship elections shows that the people are eager to have the PDP back at the saddle of governance.

“This is because, while in office, the PDP, as a people-oriented party, remained dedicated to the wellbeing of the people.

“The PDP administration salvaged our nation from a pariah status, paid off our foreign debts, grew the economy to become one of the fastest growing economies on the world map, revolutionized our aviation, telecommunication, automobile, education, agriculture, sports, entertainment, health, housing, railway, power and other critical sectors of our economy for the good of the people.

“The PDP also strengthened our democratic institutions, created anti-graft agencies, equipped our security agencies, engendered equity and social justice, maintained a strict adherence to rule of law, respect for the rights of citizens and provided electoral reforms that guaranteed credible elections in our country.

“Nigerians are saddened that the incompetent, divisive, vindictive and deceitful APC has reversed all the gains achieved by the PDP in a space of four years. If anything, the APC has only succeeded in bringing economic misery, escalated insecurity, piling foreign debts, dilapidated infrastructure and despondency in our country.

“The PDP therefore counsels the APC to seek restitution for the misery it has caused the nation instead of always looking for scapegoats where none exists.”