Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, speaks on latest developments in the polity, especiallly on the delay in signing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill with less than two years to the conduct of the 2023 general elections. Excerpts: We understand that the rumoured presidential bid of Bukola Saraki, former Senate President is already causing ripples in your party as some members are saying he is ineligible based on his position as Chairman of Reconciliation and Strategy Committee. How true is that?
It is too early for anyone to say whether someone is eligible or not to contest as the party is yet to decide where it will zone the presidential ticket to. In the first place, How do they know if he (Saraki) is ineligible to contest or not? The party is yet to decide where we will zone the presidency to. After that is done, that is when we can say whether somebody is eligible or not.
But what approximately his marketing campaign posters which are visible in strategic locations in Abuja, consisting of Wadata Plaza, your birthday celebration’s secretariat?
On the problem of the marketing campaign posters, we don’t recognise the ones behind it, even though we have had instances within the past where posters had been published on behalf of people and pasted with out the information of the individual they claim is contesting.I suppose the media aide of the previous senate president has denounced the posters as handiwork of mischief makers. But as a ways as we are concerned inside the birthday celebration, our attention is on our low season elections. We are worried with engendering solidarity and peace among our members and leaders and we are also concerned about reconciliation. These are the challenges before the birthday celebration now and that's what we operating on.
President Muhammadu Buhari upon go back from his medical holiday in the United Kingdom (UK) said Nigeria need to count on ‘continuity’ from him. How did your birthday party get hold of that assertion?
The position of our birthday party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is very clean and it's far well articulated within the declaration we issued after he said that. Our role is that we rejected in clear phrases President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement that Nigerians need to assume continuity of his governance gadget, because Nigerians can't afford more of the president’s misrule. Also, our birthday celebration holds that some thing purpose his frame of mind on continuity became made to serve, it must not detach from the finality of his leaving workplace in on May 29, 2023. Moreover, Nigerians vehemently reject any concept of ‘continuity’ that pertains to failed economic system, starvation and hunger, banditry, killings, terrorism, kidnapping, abuse of human rights, treasury looting, senseless borrowing and different vices that have characterised the APC administration underneath the watch of President Buhari.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in its reaction to the scientific journey said that President Buhari is now re-energised and recommitted to executing the birthday celebration’s lofty developmental targets after his medical experience overseas. What is your tackle that?
Like we stated in our statement, the remark by way of the APC had already confirmed that our country has indeed been on vehicle-pilot leading to shambolic state of affairs within the state, escalation of violence and lack of confidence, wrecking of our countrywide financial system, coverage inconsistency, entrenchment of corruption and impunity, with no wish in sight.As a whole lot as we understand the humanity of all, our recommendation is that the ones on the helm of affairs ought to be sincere sufficient now not to absorb assignments which can be beyond their capacity. Now that Mr. President is re-energized, his handlers don't have any further excuses on his failure to steer from the the front as he promised, in the fight against terrorists and insurgents, whose activities escalated beneath his watch.
Our birthday celebration consequently expects the re-energized President Buhari as the Commander-In-Chief to right now proceed to Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Adamawa and different states in which terrorists have almost taken over groups as a consequence of the screw ups of his administration. Mr. President should additionally at once cope with the country on how he intends to pay back the massive foreign loans his management had gathered within the ultimate six years, for which the future of our country has been mortgaged.
The ‘re-energised’ President is likewise anticipated to forcefully begin the recovery of over N15 trillion reportedly stolen by using APC leaders from authorities businesses together with the NNPC, NEMA, EFCC, NDDC amongst others. Our birthday party insist that Mr. President need to henceforth take responsibility and stop his excuse of now not continually being aware of troubles in our united states.
There has been a backward and forward between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state and the Minister of Finance over the allegation by the Governor that the federal authorities had to print N60 billion which was used to red meat up the meagre sales available for distribution for the month of March. What is your party’s response to this?
For failing the entire disclosure test, the PDP demands that the Minister of Finance ought to at once be relieved of her position, whilst the President accepts responsibility for the indiscriminate printing of foreign money in our Naira. Our birthday party implores President Buhari to shop our country by means of permitting better hands to manage and salvage our economy earlier than it's far too late
The admission via CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, that the apex financial institution have been printing cash on the bidding of government, had vindicated our in advance stand that the Buhari-led APC administration changed into characterised by using concealments, deceit and falsehood.
We are also commending Governor Obaseki for speaking out. As a monetary expert, he isn't always recognized for flippancy, and therefore need to be recommended for his act of patriotism in exposing the dire monetary scenario our country has been plunged beneath the Buhari management.
A state of affairs in which the federal authorities can't articulate and put into effect policies beneficial to wealth introduction however resorting to borrowing and indiscriminate printing of currency notes, simplest is going to in addition confirm that the Buhari management lacks the credibility and capability to run a country.
Indeed, the admission with the aid of the CBN governor that ‘Nigeria is lamentably in a completely bad situation’ in addition justifies our position that the Buhari-led APC administration has wrecked the economic system of our nation.
Our birthday celebration is concerned over the huge bad effect of indiscriminate printing of currency which has brought about the unparalleled upward thrust in inflation charge to 18.17% as disclosed via the Bureau of National Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.
This scenario has led to in addition economic hardship with surging fees and fallen buying electricity throwing millions of families in misery and not able to afford the simple necessities of existence.
On this word, our celebration is looking out President Buhari to return clean on the amount that have been revealed up to now through the CBN to finance the deficit resulting from the financial mismanagement of his government in addition to what the price range have been used for.
President Buhari failed to assent to the Electoral Act Bill in 2019. With much less than years to the 2023 presidential election, do you watched the Bill which is still with the National Assembly will see the mild of the day?
As a celebration, we constituted a committee on Electoral Reforms chaired by way of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who incidentally have been the chairman of Electoral and Constitution Review Committee of the Senate over a period of time, and who's additionally a member of the committee of the countrywide assembly for the equal purpose.
So, we are looking ahead to their record with a purpose to be submitted to us by using the Ekweremadu committee as a steerage to the stairs that the birthday celebration will similarly take. Since the president will not be contesting in 2023, it's miles the expectation of our party that he's going to signal the Electoral Act change this time.
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