The Presidency has described the comment of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the recent fundraising done by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the re-election campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan, as a display of ignorance.
According to the APC, instead of raising funds in such manner for elections, funds should rather be channeled towards the development of infrastructure, especially power.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, the presidency noted that such comments were usual for the APC to make, but such shameless display of folly was never expected from the opposition.
“Even though we have always known them to be a party with no clear direction, we never thought they could descend so low in exhibiting clear mischief and folly on a critical national issue.
“We wish to reiterate that this government and the PDP will not engage in a dubious practice of collecting money from private individuals and corporate organisations for a purpose only to divert such money to other purposes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the power reform programme initiated by President Jonathan is not run on a knee-jerk finance arrangement. It is a properly envisioned road map which is being diligently executed in line with best global practices. The power reform programme is being funded through our national budgets and foreign direct investments running into several billions of dollars.
“Reputable global players such as the General Electric is investing over a billion dollars into the generation component of the sector. Nigeria is not a beggar nation and it will not be one under the Jonathan presidency.
“The suggestion that the N21 billion (105 million dollars) raised at the party fund raising dinner be used for the power project underscores the perplexing ignorance of General Muhammadu Buhari and his team of party voyagers who have shown that they have absolutely no clue about what it requires to implement a modern revolutionary programme in a capital intensive sector such as power.
Reacting to another comment alleging that the PDP governors who donated money at the event still owed workers salaries.
“… the accusation that the PDP governors who donated money at the event have not paid civil servants salaries in their states is largely untrue and mischievous.
“We want to believe that the APC probably has one of its governors in mind when it made this accusation because it is on record that despite being the major financier of the Buhari campaign, this is the governor who has not paid 13,000 teachers their salaries in the last eight months!”
It is very obvious that APC are been threatened and believes they stand no chance of overpowering PDP come 2015. They (APC) should device a more clear means of campaign rat her than faulting every actions of their opposition in what I will term a “childish” and unprofessional mannerism. Its high time Nigerians stick to moving forward rather than returning to the old ways! Unlike the past administration and their predecessors, Nigeria has witnessed a high level of significant changes in various sectors of the economy. Every form of development takes a gradual step to unfold. You can not wake up one morning and fly! You must first crawl, walk, before nurturing the thought of flying. If any persons, groups, organization, faction, or political party is promising to build bridges and sky scrappers in the air in a day, behold you are been deceived! Like I stated above, growth and development is a gradual process. Would you rather believe in words/promises or move with the government that have brought in significant changes. Nigerians, don’t hope for miracle, work with a visionary leader who has set up, started implementing a developmental plans which has so far yielded positive results. Let’s help Goodluck Ebele Jonathan move this Nation forward if not to her permanent site! Come 2015 on Goodluck Jonathan Nigerians Stand…. ISA