He said while PDP governors were being arrested and questioned by EFCC, Former APC governors who have been accused of corruption are being nominated as Ministers. What he said after the cut...
"It is clearly manifest that the same dictatorial tendencies manifested during the military regime of 1984 is being presently applied in the polity in the attempt to discredit PDP members and weaken our great party ahead of 2019. The APC and its government have been busy denigrating the PDP and trying to appropriate our achievements, while at the same time blackmailing, hounding and harassing our elected members with the aim to cow and force them to leave the PDP and join their party. We have verifiable reports from our key members that agents of the APC have been approaching them to join the APC with threats to use the EFCC to victimize them should they refuse. The APC and its agents have been boasting that they have the powers to deal with or spare any person, depending on the party such person belongs to. This clearly explains why the so-called fight against corruption has been selective and focused against PDP members, despite counsels by stakeholders that it should be holistic and in accordance with the due process of the law. The best example of the curious nature of the war against corruption is the fact that former PDP governors and ministers are being hounded and arrested over apparently orchestrated petitions, while their APC counterparts, who have more damaging petitions are being nominated for ministerial positions. Even other APC former governors who have on-going corruption cases in court are being rewarded with APC tickets for the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa" he said
Read the full text of Olisa Metuh's speech at the press briefing below
Gentlemen
of the press, we have called you up this afternoon to, through you,
expose the hypocrisy, double standard and dictatorial proclivities of
the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Government in its orchestrated anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.
Whereas
the PDP has over time restated its support for a credible, holistic
fight against corruption, unfolding events have confirmed our position
that this administration is only using the anti-corruption posture as a
tool to witch-hunt PDP members and perceived political opponents of APC
government.
We
are aware that having realized that Nigerians have seen through their
propaganda, deceit and lies, as well as their ineptitude in handling
governance, the APC government is now mortally afraid of the on-going
rebuilding in the PDP to take over power in 2019, and is as such,
applying every negative means to decimate our great party, including the
relentless victimization of our key members.
It
is clearly manifest that the same dictatorial tendencies manifested
during the military regime of 1984 is being presently applied in the
polity in the attempt to discredit PDP members and weaken our great
party ahead of 2019.
The
APC and its government have been busy denigrating the PDP and trying to
appropriate our achievements, while at the same time blackmailing,
hounding and harassing our elected members with the aim to cow and force
them to leave the PDP and join their party.
We
have verifiable reports from our key members that agents of the APC
have been approaching them to join the APC with threats to use the EFCC
to victimize them should they refuse. The APC and its agents have been
boasting that they have the powers to deal with or spare any person,
depending on the party such person belongs to.
This
clearly explains why the so-called fight against corruption has been
selective and focused against PDP members, despite counsels by
stakeholders that it should be holistic and in accordance with the due
process of the law.
The
best example of the curious nature of the war against corruption is the
fact that former PDP governors and ministers are being hounded and
arrested over apparently orchestrated petitions, while their APC
counterparts, who have more damaging petitions are being nominated for
ministerial positions. Even other APC former governors who have on-going
corruption cases in court are being rewarded with APC tickets for the
forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa.
On
the issue of Senator Godswill Akpabio, we invite Nigerians to note that
in the three rich states of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Lagos states, there
were petitions against their former governors. Whereas the former APC
governors of Lagos and Rivers were rewarded with ministerial
nominations, their Akwa Ibom PDP counterpart and the current Senate
Minority Leader is being hounded by the EFCC.
This
is in spite of the common knowledge that Akwa-Ibom under the Senator
Akpabio is arguably the least indebted state in Nigeria, and where the
governor appropriately applied available resources to effectively
transform the state. We challenge the APC to show Nigerians any of their
governor that matched the feats achieved in Akwa-Ibom under Senator
Akpabio, whose only building in Uyo is uncompleted and being built with
verifiable bank loans.
The
PDP therefore state categorically that the orchestrated investigation
of Senator Akpabio is politically motivated and targeted at weakening
the PDP for 2019 elections, by virtue of his being the face of
opposition in the National Assembly.
It
is also part of the fight by the Presidency to weaken the legislature
as an arm of government and prevent it from effectively carrying out its
constitutional role of checks and balances in a democracy.
As
we speak, no APC member, despite the public petitions of corruption and
squandering of state funds, has been invited or questioned by the EFCC.
We challenge the EFCC, as an anti-corruption agency, to show Nigerians
any member of the APC it has so far questioned, not to talk of being
arrested since the emergence of this administration, despite petitions
against them.
Recall
that even the case of former Adamawa state Governor Murtala Nyako
started before the advent of the current administration but is now
reportedly being worked on ostensibly to extricate APC members involved.
This
government has established itself as a hypocritical regime that
accommodates corruption, profligacy and sleazes in government quarters
while hoodwinking the people and witch-hunting PDP members.
The
hypocrisy of this administration came to the fore with the show of
insensitivity to the mood of the nation as copiously demonstrated in Saturday’s
ostentatious thanksgiving party (with hundreds of millions of naira
spent) by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SFG) Engr.
Babachir David Lawal, at a time the people of the North East
geo-political zone, where he hails from, are being ravaged by
insurgency.
Finally,
we request Mr. President to end this dictatorial proclivity of
selective anti-corruption war that has characterized the APC government.
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
National Publicity Secretary
