15th July, 2010
The Action Congress today in Abuja slammed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party; PDP, for elevating what is purely an internal affairs of the party to a national discuss with the intent to conceal and obfuscate the colossal mess which the party has made of governance in Nigeria.
In a speech titled “Shall We Let The PDP Set Nigeria Ablazeâ€, the Action Congress National Chairman; Chief Bisi Akande accused the Peoples Democratic Party of executing a grand design calculated to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by elevating their internal problem to a national discuss. He accused the party of wasting precious energy on mundane issue of where the President will come from while important issues like epileptic power supply and incessant kidnapping is throwing the nation into a chaos.
Chief Akande called on Nigerians not to join in the dissipation of energy in a political party’s internal wrangling noting that no meaningful development can be achieved in a corruption ridden society, the type the PDP Government has infested the nation with. He observed that the political space is already fouled due to the PDP’s inability to control their members.
The National Chairman called on Nigerians to be watchful as the Peoples Democratic Party is being pushed by a large pool of confusion that may rapidly snowball into a flood of chaos which may sweep the country into an abyss of destabilization, disunity and abject poverty. He referred the PDP’s zoning matter as a mere internal jousting for sharing the stolen resources of Nigeria.
The Action Congress also used the forum to release criteria which must be met by any aspirants who wants to run on the party’s platform. Some of these include a reasonable high level of education and deep intellect, experience of public and private services as well as clean record of service, charisma and presence, broad based reception across the country as a credible change agent, high level of exposure to the international environment and commitment to regional and international norms and standard among others.
The party also revealed that there are pressures for merging with other political parties, associations, groups and individuals with a view to expanding its membership composition and renewing the party’s thinking horizon about leadership roles that would encompass qualitative leadership for the nation.
Giving a hint to the party’s new paradigm shift, the National Chairman stated that there is need for a generational shift in leadership for the party and for all levels of government in the country. He stated that the Action Congress is poised to target young people with fresh ideas for the leadership of the country.
On the possibility of President Goodluck Jonathan contesting the 2011 election, Chief Akande notes “…If President Goodluck decides to run and gets the nomination of his party; we will put up a credible candidate to challenge him. But I’m sure that his party cannot present him to Nigerians going by his balabala government. He bans an association today and unbans it tomorrow, that is balabala governmentâ€
On the rumored presidential interest of the former anti graft czar; Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on the platform of the Action Congress, Chief Akande stated that he cannot confirm whether Ribadu or El Rufai are members of the party without checking the party’s registers from their respective states, but that if Ribadu decides to join the party and is promoted by his Adamawa state ward, that he will be considered alongside the other candidates. He further noted that the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission boss has a public face and enough charisma to lead this country on the platform of any political party.
—Nnamdi Felix / Abuja