The Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom has criticized the All Progressives Congress for their vilification of the PDP Governors’ Forum over their recent stand on the running of the country.
The APC had slammed the Forum for their stand in the running of the Cenral Bank of Nigeria,CBN,the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,NNPC, and other Federal Agencies while describing their visit as a last ditch effort to prevent Governor Udom Emmanuel from dumping the PDP.
In a statement endorsed by State Publicity Secretary, My Borono Bassey on Thursday in Uyo, the PDP flayed the ruling party for their habitual resort to using flimsy excuses to decieve Nigerians and shy away from the facts and truth of the country’s truamatic economic situation.
The party pointed out that Nigerians have continued to make calls for clarity on NNPC’s remittances and expenditures amid querries by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“Earlier this year, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts and officials from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation had accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of withholding trillions of naira due to the Federation Account. These strong allegations are contained and mirrored in the 2016 AuGF report.
“Specifically, the Senate committee and the AuGF’s office had alleged that the NNPC did not remit about N4.07 trillion to the government’s coffers. By way of a defense, the NNPC said it exploited the window that allows revenue-generating ministries, departments and agencies to spend out of the income they generate.
“What the Governors under the aegis of the PDP Governors’ Forum did was only to re-echo these popular sentiments in the interest of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who are left to suffer untold hardships because of the paucity of funds necessitated by activities such as complained against the NNPC.
“But the APC in Akwa Ibom State in a crass display of a naked dance in a marketplace made a strenuous but failed effort to cook a broth of shame for our state by jumping to castigate the PDP Governors who were only mirroring the thoughts of millions of Nigerians.” The statement said.
It described the call by the Governors as well placed as remittances by different Ministries, Departments and Agencies have in recent times been called to question by relevant authorities and querried the intentions of the ruling party in criticising the Governors.
“Although Akwa Ibom people and Nigerians have come to understand that the underlying intent of the APC in Akwa Ibom in authoring some of their releases is to find an outlet to “stylishly vent about their frustrations about the President Buhari’s administration, we must admit that we are saddened by this insensitive and insulting attempt by the APC to mock Nigerians over the untold hardship that their party has plunged Nigerians into.
“This is because the PDP Governor were only amplifying the voices of millions of Nigerians. As a Party, the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, like other well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians, adopts the position of the Governors as captured in the Communiqué.” It maintained.
The Party described suggestions by the APC that the PDP Governors came to Akwa Ibom to dissuade Gov. Emmanuel from defecting to their party as a nonsense adding that only failed leaders would contemplate leaving the PDP for APC.
“Such can only be contemplated by failures not a succeeding and jinx breaking Governor like Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, the Leader of our party who is doing with ease in a state what the APC Governors, the APC-led Federal Government cannot and is unwilling to do for their states and the country with all the funds and powers at their disposal.
“We are optimistic that Nigeria will get better and we commend the PDP Governor’s Forum for making a precise diagnosis of the challenges facing the nation and also recommending ways to tackle them.” The statement concluded.
