The All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continued to trade words on the state of the nation on Saturday, as the APC insisted that it is still busy clearing the rot of PDP’s 16 years in the saddle.

National Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, (CECPC), Senator James Akpanudoedehe, made the declaration in a statement at the weekend.

Senator Akpanudoedehe was reacting to remarks attributed to the new national chairman of PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu who on Friday said Nigerians were anxious to return the PDP to power, having been dissappointed with what he called the APC misrule.

The APC CECPC national secretary maintained that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration “has been clearing the national rot left behind by the PDP’s shambolic handling of insecurity in its early days, its financial heist under the guise of procuring military weapons, fuel subsidy rackets, diverted loans, voodoo economics, abuse of public institutions and electoral fraud.”

Senator Akpanudoedehe further noted that Nigerians are delighted with the APC administration’s “continuous electoral reforms and non-interference in the functions of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); institutional reforms which have ensured financial autonomy for local government councils; financial autonomy of state legislatures and judiciaries; assenting the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA); infrastructure revolution in road, rail and air transportation; implementing social investments programmes thereby financially empowering millions, particularly poor Nigerians, among others.

“While it further expressed dissapointment with what it called empty rhetorics of Senator Ayu’s newly inaugurated PDP National Working Committee, the APC CECPC advised the new leadership of the main opposition party to strive to convince Nigerians that it was ready to make restitution with the impunity that characterised its tenure.

The statement read in part:”The newly-inaugurated leadership of the opposition Party (PDP) has shown early signs that it is not different from the immediate-past and sacked leadership of the failed opposition party.

“Going by the utterances and direction of the new PDP leadership, any hope of a refocused opposition party expected to atone for misdeeds on the country when it was in government for 16 years and as a failed opposition party following PDP’s sack in 2015 have now been quickly dashed."

The PDP, however, in its response said Nigerians have continued to suffer under the APC as insecurity and unemployment have become the order of the day in an economy that is in a shambles.

In a statement by its new National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on Saturday, the party reiterated that its goal is to unseat the ruling party in 2023.

“Under the APC, Nigerians continue to experience insecurity ravaging the country, unprecedented unemployment, an economy in a shambles, almost collapsing, the naira failing daily, industries are packing up daily, education standards falling, health sector in comatose, infrastructure decay and stagnation and scaring disunity and suspicion pervade the country added with nepotism and tribalism,” the PDP stated.

According to the statement, “The goal of the new leadership of the party under the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu is to install a PDP government in 2023 and ensure that our country become more united, improve security of lives and property, improve the economy by implementing well thought out policies and programmes, and pay special attention to infrastructure especially electricity and rail transport.”

It said the new National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP appreciated the unprecedented courage displayed by Nigerians in the last six years of “the corrupt, inept, inhumane and wicked APC government.”

The PDP national leadership therefore urged citizens to be steadfast and vote for the PDP in the 2023 election “to Rescue and Rebuild our country Nigeria.”

With the inauguration of the new NWC, the PDP also congratulated Nigerians for “the beginning of a new dawn and the start of a process signaling the exit of the most clueless, most uninformed and most embarrassing regime since independence.” (Sunday Tribune)

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