PDP Insists Transition C’ttee Meetings Taking Place, Urges APC To Focus On Delivering Campaign promises

olisa metuhThe Peoples Democratic Party has denied claims by the All Progressives Congress that it has refused to co-operate to ensure a smooth transition from one administration to the other on May 29.

The APC through its spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday alleged that “the transition committee of the FG has yet to hold a single meeting with our own transition committee, neither have they given us a line of handover note”.

Reacting on Friday, the PDP spokesperson, Olisah Metuh, said the APC’s claim was as “unnecessary and diversionary” as it was “false and tendentious”.

Mr. Metuh stated that the meetings of the transition and inauguration committees of both parties have been going on fruitfully and wondered where the “false alarm” was coming from, “if not a measure of confusion in the APC camp”.

“We can confirm that the APC Transition Committee led by Mallam Ahmed Joda has met at least twice with the Presidency team led by Vice President Namadi Sambo while the Timipre Sylva-led APC Inauguration Committee has been meeting almost on daily basis with the PDP team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim”, Mr. Metuh said.

“It is therefore most uncharitable for the APC to attempt to mislead the people by claiming that the PDP-led Presidency was not cooperating in the process.

“Although the ruling party suffered some electoral setback, Nigerians are witness to the fact that the PDP has remained humble in defeat while focusing on rebuilding and reinventing itself. Such should not in any way warrant the unnecessary attacks, vituperations and insults from the APC”.

Mr. Metuh added that the PDP is at the moment committed to a process of rebuilding and reinventing itself, following its dismal performance in the last elections and advised the incoming governing party to learn to be decent and cease to be arrogant as that would amount to taking the goodwill of the people for granted.

The PDP spokesperson also said the incoming APC Government of Muhammadu Buhari should be more concerned about “negative signals and the rising worries by Nigerians over its flip-flops and apparent nervousness of its President-elect who has started reneging on his campaign promises”.

He said, “Nigerians were bewildered when they heard General Buhari renege on his messianic posture and told them in clear terms not to expect him to rapidly fix the problems of the nation as he had promised during the campaign.

“The same President-elect who boldly stated in his campaign manifesto that ‘I, Muhammadu Buhari, have resolved that the task ahead of me is that of securing our nation and prospering our people, not looking backward to the failed policies and promises’, had on May 5, 2015 in a meeting with APC governor-elects, reneged and announced that he has started nervously to explain to people that Rome was not built in a day.

“Furthermore while the APC in a statement on April 3, 2015 denied that the President-elect pledged to end insurgency in two months of being sworn in, the video clip of his interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN on April 2, 2015 is clear on the promise made by Buhari.

“Nigerians are not in a hurry to forget that the APC promised to rapidly fix the economy, generate, transmit and distribute electricity on a 24/7 basis, pay N5,000 monthly to 25 million poor Nigerians; provide allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months, create additional 4 million new homes, provide free education and meals for school children and bring naira to the same value with the dollar”.

Noting that Nigerians would not accept failure from the APC, Mr. Metuh insisted PDP advanced Nigeria’s democracy to a globally acknowledged level.

“It would even do more by offering the most constructive and credible opposition as it repositions to regain power in 2019”, he maintained.