APC Slams ‘PDP Media Watchdog’ For Asking Buhari To Resign

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a
product of poor thinking and deliberate mischief the statement credited to the
so-called PDP Media Watchdog asking President Muhammadu Buhari to resign
because of his comments over his age.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the authors of the
statement had understood simple English, taken the pains to engage in deep
thinking and contextualized the comments, they would not have rushed to the
press to ask the President to resign.

“What President Buhari was saying, which was lost on those
who issued that jejune statement, is that only his love and passion for the
country could have made him, at his age, to come out of retirement to seek the
office of President, over 30 years after he presided over the affairs of the
country.

“For 16 years, Nigerians gave the PDP the benefit of the
doubt to move the country forward, but instead, the party put Nigeria in
reverse gear at a high speed, spinning it towards a doomsday that was only
averted when Nigerians showed the PDP the red card. This is what necessitated
President Buhari to continuously seek the country’s highest political office,
so he can help put the country on a forward march again. Nothing else matters,
not for him the excitement of an office he previously held and the quest for
personal accomplishment. If the country had been well managed, President Buhari
will not at 72 be crisscrossing the whole world seeking solution to Nigeria’s
problems,” it said.

APC said within three weeks of his inauguration, President
Buhari has succeeded in returning Nigeria to the comity of nations, to such an
extent that world leaders are now so eager to engage him on how to assist his
country in key areas, including security and the fight against corruption.

“Within three weeks of President Buhari’s inauguration, he
had done what the PDP government could not do in six years: Invigorate the
fight against Boko Haram by rallying a regional and global front against the
terror group. Today, the US has pledged to give $5 million for the fight
against Boko Haram, in addition to other material support. This is apart from
the support that has been pledged by the G-7 for Nigeria’s efforts to quell the
insurgency.

“Thanks to President Buhari’s shuttle diplomacy, the
Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) that the PDP government could not bring
together for all of six years is ready to deploy next month, while the
President has ordered the release of $21 million to facilitate the
establishment of the headquarters of the force in N’Djamena, Chad.

“Since assuming office about three weeks ago, President
Buhari has visited Chad, Niger, Germany and South Africa, winning support and
friends for Nigeria all over again and returning the country to the comity of
respected nations. Those who were put off by the PDP government’s resort to
politicizing the fight against Boko Haram – even as the insurgents grew
stronger – are now joining President Buhari to battle the terrorists. In no
distant future, the results of his tireless efforts will begin to show.

“On the domestic front, President Buhari has been handling
pressing issues far away from the klieg light, and his efforts to assembly a
first class team to implement his change mantra, which he is personally
driving, are continuing apace. We in the APC, and we are sure most unbiased
Nigerians, are very proud of President Buhari and the vigour he has shown in
governance, the kind of vigour we did not see in the immediate past
administration that was presided over by a far younger man,” the party said.

It said only anarchists and non-democrats will ask a
President who has not spent one month in office to resign, adding: “It rankles
when those making these calls are from the ranks of the party that failed to
avail itself creditably in 16 years.”

APC said it has deliberately refused to join issues with the
PDP, which has been issuing a series of insipid press statements that showed
clearly that the party is not ready to provide a robust opposition to the
APC-led federal government

“For the umpteenth time, we say that the PDP and its
satellite bodies must realize that in order to be relevant, credible and to make
the necessary impact, they must pick on real issues and articulate them
intelligently, rather than latching on to trite matters. This very amateurish
display won’t get them anywhere,” the party said.

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