The presidential campaign councils of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday pounced on each other in a war of words.

A spokesperson of the PDP Presidential Campaign council, Senator Dino Melaye, in a statement described the ruling APC as a rudderless, floundering, reactive and retrogressive party which Nigerians should reject at the polls.

The APC team, in a reaction signed by Festus Keyamo, said the PDP lacked the moral right to attack the APC on any issue because it is a shameless party that constitutes a danger to the treasury of Nigeria.

The PDP statement reads: “As the campaign season has set in, Nigerians must be discerning to critically examine the conduct and character of the people and parties that seek to lead our great country as from May 29, 2023.

“However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is neither ready for election nor structured to govern, though its members are desperate to retain power. Sadly, the undiscerning is oblivious of the usual media hypnotism that the APC engages to confuse and mesmerise the unwary.

“I once had a cause to describe the APC as an NGO and not a political party. Even now that it has managed to have a contrivance called party executive, it remains formless, unstructured, uncoordinated and unorganised. It is not surprising, since as you may recall the coronation of the chairman of the party was a mere formalisation of the appointment approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the live wire, navigator and camp commandant of the APC.

“As an indication of the unpreparedness of the APC to lead Nigeria, the party in its nearly 10 years of existence has no Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is usually referred to as the soul or the conscience of the party.

“Without a soul, the party has remained rudderless, floundering, reactive and retrogressive. Before Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the flagbearer of the party against the run of play, he had in his usual entitled fashion been addressed as the leader of the party. However, neither he nor any other was good enough to lead the BOT, so the structure has remained sterilised.

“With the acephalic existence the party, it could only function under a caretaker committee. Again, no one was worthy to lead the intervening contraption but a sitting governor, who ordinarily should be preoccupied with the affairs of his state.

“As things stand, all the illegality committed in Buni’s era may be subjected to judicial interrogation. The shilly-shally continued until the presidential convention of parties fell due. Again, the APC acted disjointedly asking to be granted extension of time by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“While the PDP had conducted its party convention and presidential election convention as scheduled, INEC had to babysit and spoon-feed the APC before it could hold its party and presidential primary convention. How the party dilly-dallied before ending up with the contentious selection of a running mate for its presidential candidate is another lamentable story waiting to be told another day.

“Another evidence of maturational lag manifested during the presidential primary. The national chairman of the party, acting for himself or a proxy, expressed preference for a candidate while majority of APC governors had their own choice. Though President Buhari, sometimes humoured to be the leader of the party, did not make any pronouncement, it is unlikely that the chairman acted alone without the approval of the man behind the mask. Till today it has been a ding-dong between the national chairman of the APC and the flag-bearer of the party. Where is the time to think or act on the good of Nigeria in all these?”

Melaye also pointed out that the inability of the APC to constitute its presidential campaign council had shown the direction it would take the country to if allowed to govern the country beyond 2023.

He said: “Perhaps a more telling indicator of the gross unpreparedness of the APC for governance is in the constitution of its campaign council. In its unguided attempt to be at pace with the better organised and better structured party like the PDP, the APC amateurs by-passed processes, ignored consultation, discarded vital inputs and ran to the press with a hurriedly hemmed list of Council members. As the joke goes, it is the matter they are still settling. (Saturday Tribune)

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