The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PDP

  • Why we apologised to Nigerians, by PDP

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said yesterday its apology to Nigerians was a pathway to national healing, renewal of hope and remobilisation of the citizenry for the task of rescuing the nation from alleged “misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC)”.

    Its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, on Monday apologised to Nigerians and pleaded for forgiveness for the party’s culture of impunity and imposition of candidate, which he said, led to the party’s loss of power in 2015.

    It said as a responsible party, committed to the good of Nigerians, the PDP is deeply saddened that Nigerians are suffering “because the nation allowed the APC, a movement that has neither structure nor plan, to scheme itself into governance”.

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the APC of devastating the country, wrecking the country’s once robust economy and plunging the citizens into a situation of hunger, starvation and daily bloodletting.

    The party said it was not unmindful of the fact that lessons have been learnt and that Nigerians across board are now looking up to its repositioned and rebranded platform to pull the country from the brinks and return it to the path of true democracy, national cohesion and economic prosperity.

    The party added that while certain mistakes were made in its internal administration prior to the 2015 general election, its new leadership has already smoothened the rough edges to ensure strict adherence to internal democracy and good governance.

    “It is imperative to further state that our apology has to do more with the fact that we made certain mistakes that allowed an anti-people movement to take over governance in our country.

    “Therefore, our apology is to ask Nigerians, once again, to put their trust in the rebranded PDP, particularly, as our party is the only platform that is committed to the national agenda of peace, unity, justice and prosperous nation,” the statement added.

  • Apology pathway to national healing, renewed hope – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said its apology to Nigerians was pathway to national healing, renewal of hope and re-mobilisation of the citizenry for rescuing the nation from current challenges.

    In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday in Abuja, the party said that it was not unmindful of the fact that lessons had been learnt.

    It also said that Nigerians across board were now looking up to its repositioned and rebranded platform to salvage the country from current travails.

    According to it, a rebranded PDP will pull the country from the brinks and return her to the path of true democracy, national cohesion and economic prosperity.

    “While certain mistakes were made in PDP internal administration prior to the 2015 general election, its new leadership has already smoothened rough edges to ensure strict adherence to internal democracy and good governance in all processes.

    “It is imperative to further state that our apology has to do more with the fact that we made certain mistakes that allowed an anti-people movement to take over governance in our country.

    “Our situation has become so pathetic that the world is now contemplating on how to help us. Average life span of Nigerians has become low and purchasing power is eroded.

    “Therefore, our apology is to ask Nigerians, once again, to put their trust in the rebranded PDP.

    “Our party is the only platform that is committed to the national agenda of peace, unity, justice and prosperous nation,” it said.

    National Chairman of the party, Mr Uche Secondus, had at a public national discourse on “Contemporary Governance in Nigeria” on Monday in Abuja, apologised to Nigerians for the mistakes the party made while in power.

    On behalf of the party, Secondus apologised to Nigerians for impunity, imposition of candidates and other mistakes made in the past.

    He assured that under his watch, those vices would not be recorded. (NAN)

  • PDP to APC: You were elected with looted funds

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its administration to end the ruling party’s false sanctimony.

    It also asked the APC to immediately return all stolen funds used to finance President Muhammadu Buhari’s election in 2015 to the Federation Account.

    The party was reacting to a demand by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, asking the PDP to return funds looted during its 16 years administration.

    But in a counter claim, the PDP said the APC and its Federal Government cannot continue to play the saints when state governors, who stole hundreds of billions of naira meant for the development of their states to fund President Buhari’s election in 2015, are still enjoying cover as members of the Buhari kitchen cabinet despite outrage from Nigerians.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Tuesday, said there was no evidence that the PDP looted any public funds.

    He insisted that the APC and President Buhari campaigned for the 2015 presidential election with looted billions of naira meant for the provision of essential amenities for ordinary Nigerians.

    The opposition party said the Information minister misfired in his outburst that the PDP should return alleged looted funds, when the only party known to have used looted funds has always been the APC.

    The statement said: “It is, to say the least, despicable that the APC and its Federal Government, in their arrogance, would always try to play the saint when they were elected with stolen funds and have continued to reek with filth and sleaze.

    “Nigerians are aware that prior to the 2015 election, President Buhari had informed that he was insolvent.

    “He however took Nigerians by surprise as he enjoyed one of the most expensive presidential campaigns in the history of our nation, while turning a blind eye to reports of massive looting of funds from APC controlled states.

    “Indeed, if there is any party that should refund looted funds, it is the APC, which directly used stolen money to scheme in the election of President Buhari in 2015, while known culpable persons now sit comfortably around the Presidential table, still superintending over the looting of our common patrimony.

    “This is the APC, whose government, has been rated by international bodies including the Transparency International (TI) whose latest report showed that corruption and sleaze had escalated under its watch.

    “This is the same government where ministers and officials indicted for corruption and looting of public funds, particularly in the oil and gas sector, which is directly under the purview of Mr. President, are shielded and condoned.

    “Even presently, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communication, has been accused of owing his aides N13 million; that he has no fewer than 12 houses across the nation; bought a N93 million printing press and bought 25 luxury cars for his personal use, among others.

    “Yet, nothing has been heard from either the dysfunctional APC or its incompetent federal government.

    “While the repositioned PDP maintain its unpretentious stance towards Nigerians, we charge the minister of information to direct his demand to the Presidency and the APC as Nigerians are expecting them to refund the stolen funds they used to scheme themselves into office in 2015.”

     

  • FG to PDP: Apology not enough, return looted funds

    The Federal Government on Tuesday reacted to the apology tendered by the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) over its 16 years misrule.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, urged the party to go a step further by returning all the looted funds.

    In a statement issued in Abuja, Mohammed also challenged the party to show the genuineness of its apology through a discernible change of attitude.

    He said: ”The PDP presided over an unprecedented looting of the public treasury, perhaps the worst of its kind in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world. Therefore, the best evidence of penitence for such a party is not just to own up and apologize, but to also return the looted funds. Anything short of that is mere deceit.

    ”Even with the paucity of funds, this administration has spent an unprecedented amount of money on infrastructural development and Social Investment Programme, among others. Returning looted funds will provide more money for these programmes and make life more meaningful for Nigerians. There is no better apology than that.”

    Alhaji Mohammed also reminded the PDP of the quote: ”If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging,” saying it applies to the PDP at this time.

    ”PDP, press the reset button. Stop sabotaging the work of this administration, which is packing the mess you left behind, through your reckless statements and unfounded allegations. Play responsible opposition politics. Put Nigeria’s interest over and above partisan interest. Temper your desperation to return to power. Spend quality time in the purgatory and you will be forgiven,” he said.

     

     

  • Why we apologised to Nigerians – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Tuesday its apology to Nigerians was a pathway to national healing, renewal of hope and remobilisation of the citizenry for the task of rescuing the nation from “the current pathetic situation occasioned by the painful misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, had on Monday apologised to Nigerians and pleaded for forgiveness for the party’s culture of impunity and imposition of candidate, which he said led to the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election.

    It said as a responsible party, committed to the good of Nigerians, the PDP is deeply saddened that Nigerians are suffering “because the nation allowed the APC, a movement that has neither structure nor plan to scheme itself into governance.”

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the APC of devastating the country, wrecking the country’s once robust economy and plunging the citizens into a situation of hunger, starvation and daily bloodletting.

    The party said it is not unmindful of the fact that lessons have been learnt and that Nigerians across board are now looking up to its repositioned and rebranded platform to pull the country from the brinks and return her to the path of true democracy, national cohesion and economic prosperity, which were the hallmarks of PDP’s 16 years stay in power.

    The party added that while certain mistakes were made in its internal administration prior to the 2015 general election, its new leadership has already smoothen the rough edges to ensure strict adherence to internal democracy and good governance in all processes.

    “It is imperative to further state that our apology has to do more with the fact that we made certain mistakes that allowed an anti-people movement to take over governance in our country.

    “Our situation under the APC has become so pathetic that the world is now contemplating how to help us. Under the APC misrule, the average life span of Nigerians has become abysmally low.

    “Purchasing power is eroded, the middle class has been wiped off, security is almost non-existent, all the economic gains of the PDP years have been destroyed, and our nation is now placed on auto-pilot.

    “It is painful to note that under the nightmarish rule of APC, Nigerians have become so frustrated that they now consider suicide mission and slavery as options.

    “Therefore, our apology is to ask Nigerians, once again, to put their trust in the rebranded PDP, particularly, as our party is the only platform that is committed to the national agenda of peace, unity, justice and prosperous nation,” the statement added.

     

  • PDP: we beg Nigerians for our mistakes

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership yesterday admitted making mistakes during its 16 years stay in power and pleaded with Nigerians to forgive the party.

    The party rued the culture of impunity and imposition of candidates, among other ills while in power, saying its leaders and stakeholders have turned a new leaf.

    Its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, made the plea in Abuja at a public event, with the theme; ‘Nation Building, Resetting the Agenda’, which held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

    Secondus said the party has learnt from its past mistakes, adding that regardless of its failings, the PDP has garnered the requisite experience in governance and ready to correct its mistakes.

    He said: “I am the very first to admit that our party made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015.

    “Let me seize this opportunity to apologise to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of an evolution process without which there can be no maturity.

    “The PDP has embarked on a rescue mission and together we will salvage this nation back from the grip of the incompetent All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    Lamenting that the country and its people have become more divided than ever before under the present administration, the party chair said Nigeria needed reconstruction to realise its immense potentials.

    Secondus lamented that in less than three years that the party lost power, all the gains recorded in the 16 years of PDP administration have been eroded as a result of lack of understanding of the intricacies of governing a complex state like Nigeria.

    The party chair accused the Federal Government of attempts to arm twist state governors into approving the dedication of $1 billion from the Sovereign Wealth Fund to tackle the Boko Haram insurgents, even when the government claimed to have defeated the sect.

    He described the circumstances surrounding the February 19 abduction of the over 100 Dapchi school girls as one of the instances the government was playing politics with national security.

    A former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, who also spoke at the event, identified with Secondus for the first time since the party’s December 9 convention where Secondus emerged chairman.

    George had withdrawn from the race in protest against what he described as monitisation of the process and imposition of Secondus by the party’s governors.

    Other party chieftains present at the event included former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo; former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido.

    Other former governors that attended the event included former Governors Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Peter Obi (Anambra); Babangida Aliyu (Niger) among others.

    One of the panellists at the event, Ms Toyosi Ogunshiji, hailed the party for toeing the line of honour.

    She said Nigeria must move from praying to taking more serious actions for the country’s progress.

    Ogunshiji said the country needed statesmen “who think about the people and not politicians who think about the next elections”.

    Reacting, APC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said the PDP should wait for the forgiveness of Nigerians before seeking to return to power.

    He said the campaign of the PDP members did not show that they have truly repented from their past deeds, noting that if they want the forgiveness of Nigerians, they have to be truly remorseful.

    The APC spokesman said: “Since PDP has realised and accepted that they are sinners and that their crimes of the years brought Nigeria to this sordid state we found ourselves today, we are glad with the admittance.

    “It is good that they have finally accepted that they made mistakes. Now that they are willing to atone for their sins, they must have to spend sufficient time in the trajectory to show that they are truly repentant. They have to wait for Nigerians to forgive them before they can even begin to dream of coming back to power.

    “All these desperate campaign from PDP did not show that they have truly repented. If they really want Nigerians to forgive them, they have to be remorseful and demonstrate that they are sober.”

  • We made mistakes in the past – PDP

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday admitted making mistakes during its 16 years stay in power and pleaded with Nigerians to forgive the party.

    The party rued the culture of impunity and imposition of candidates, among other ills while in power, saying its leaders and stakeholders have turned a new leaf.

    The party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, made the plea in Abuja at a public event, with the theme: “Nation Building, Resetting the Agenda,” held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

    Secondus said the party has learnt from its past mistakes, adding that regardless of its failings, the PDP has garnered the requisite experience in governance and ready to correct its mistakes.

    Secondus said: “I am the very first to admit that our party made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015.

    “Let me seize this opportunity to apologize to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of an evolution process without which there can be no maturity.

    “The PDP has embarked on a rescue mission and together we will salvage this nation back from the grip of the incompetent All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    Lamenting that the country and its people have become more divided than ever before under the present administration, the PDP chairman said Nigeria needs reconstruction to realise its immense potentials.

    “Not even during the fratricidal civil war has this country been so divided along ethnic and religious fault lines. When a country is in such precarious situation, nation building becomes absolutely inevitable.

    “Soon after independence in 1960, our forefathers set out to build a nation worthy to be proud of. But early internal contradictions engineered by tribe and religion truncated it, using the military.

    “For over 30 years, the military in league with some politicians, led this country until 1999 when they were pressured to return to the barracks through combined democratic efforts from both within and outside the country.

    “For the first 16 years of this milestone political transition, legitimate power rested in the domain of the PDP, a party baked in the nation’s oven of democratic struggle. Its founding fathers set out very lofty dreams for the nation’s economic, social and political emancipation and development.

    “Within those 16 years, the party, which I now have the privilege of leading, was able to lay the foundation blocks of our nascent democracy by setting up and nurturing vital democratic institutions that will ensure its survival.

    “Ultimately realising the critical importance of credible elections in the life of any democracy, the PDP government embarked on massive electoral reforms that ensured the conduct of free, fair and credible elections and saw a ruling party lose an election and successfully transited power to the opposition.

    “This was the first of such in the democratic life of this country and an example for the entire continent. Even though we are sad about our loss, we as a party are immensely proud of what we consider our most significant achievement of willingly transferring power to opposition when the time came, thus giving a lie to all predictions that Nigeria would break in 2015. Let me alert the current ruling party, that no less is expected from them.”

    He lamented that in less than three years that the party lost power, all the gains recorded in the 16 years of PDP administration have been eroded as a result of lack of understanding of the intricacies of governing a complex state like Nigeria.

     

  • PDP, APC disagree on Danjuma’s outburst

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the call by General Danjuma urging Nigerians to defend themselves “is yet another testimony of the tragic situation which the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have dragged our nation”.

    National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan said “Nigerians are now daily paying the supreme price because of the failures of a grossly incompetent leadership and a deceitful ruling party.

    “The pronouncement, coming from an Army General, a former Chief of Army Staff and a former Defence Minister of Gen. Danjuma’s status, is weighty and directly reflects the ugly situation in the country under the APC”, the party added.

    The PDP observed that with Nigerians now resorting to self-defence, it is a clear demonstration that Nigerians, across board have completely lost confidence in President Buhari and the APC.

    “It is instructive to recall that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, both former military leaders, army generals and patriots, had earlier raised the issue of unabating bloodletting and pogrom in our country under the APC and the Buhari Presidency.

    “Painfully, the APC-controlled Federal Government has not only failed in finding solution but is also contending with allegations of conspiracy and acts that are believed to have emboldened attacks against innocent Nigerians.

    “Nigerians are no longer feeling secured in their land. Our country has, in close to three years, assumed a status of killing field where defenceless citizens are despoiled, raped and mowed by insurgents and marauders in Benue, Taraba, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Adamawa, Borno, Plateau, Nasarawa, Rivers, Enugu, Kogi among other states.

    “Unfortunately, the Buhari-led APC federal government remains aloof and has failed to take decisive steps that will apprehend the masterminds of the carnage.

    The PDP also rejected President Buhari’s threat of unleashing the security agencies on critics of the Armed Foces, describing it as undemocratic and completely unacceptable.

    The party said, “The PDP, as a party, after a thorough review of all issues and the fact that nobody, apart from the President himself, politicized the Dapchi issue when he boasted that his response time was faster than that of former President Goodluck Jonathan, hold that President Buhari’s pronouncement on alleged politicization of security issues is targeted at emasculating opposition and those with contrary opinions to the views of the APC interests.

    “The President’s statement completely betrays a dangerous political intolerance and utter disdain for the rule of law and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and opinion of citizens in a democracy.”

    But APC spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi, said: “My take on it is very clear. He (Danjuma) accused the military of being partisan and I cannot comment on it because the military is more than capable of responding to that.

    “But, my response on his call that people should take up arms and defend themselves is to say that such statement is very wrong.

    “It is a call to anarchy and we are not in support of it. If the security forces are not doing well, we have the responsibility to call on them to do more.

    “If we suspect that they have abandoned their roles, we have the responsibility to request more from them. But for him to tell people to take up arms and defend them is condemnable and a call to anarchy.

    “We are not in support of it and I feel that someone of his calibre should not be making that kind of statement.”

    Senator Shehu Sani in a post on his facebook page said: “Buhari has heard Danjuma’s Radio message. And I believe he has decoded the message.”

    “The nation is tip toeing through a minefield; the two generals are experienced to know better that its fate lies in every step.”

  • PDP deserves de-registration for utter failure – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) deserves to be deregistered for utter failure both as ruling and opposition party.

    The minister stated this on Sunday in Lagos at a media briefing to give update and clarifications on the released schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe state.

    The minister specifically berated the party for “disgraceful and insensitive politics that the PDP has been playing with the abduction and release of the Dapchi girls’’.

    “What called for non-partisan celebrations was rather thoughtlessly turned into politics, bad, despicable politics that has no place in any democracy.

    “At times of national tragedies, countries unite. This is the norm everywhere.

    “Indeed, there should be a new criterion for withdrawing the registration of a party like the PDP which has failed both as a ruling and an opposition party!

    “If a party cannot rule and cannot be in opposition, what else can it do?’’ he said.

    The minister reiterated that a terror attack on any country is an attack on all countries.

    He said it was on the basis of that, the UN was among the first international organisations to condemn the abduction of the Dapchi girls and also among the first to welcome their release.

    The minister said that going by PDP statement that the abduction and release of the girls were stage-managed, it showed “that the party and its co-travelers do not understand that terrorism is a global problem’’.

    “Perhaps we should ask the PDP what indeed the party knows about the abduction of the Dapchi girls, going by its statement that their abduction and release were stage-managed.

    “The party made itself a laughing stock within and outside Nigeria with that statement.

    “Don’t they know that our international friends are involved in the process that led to the release of the girls?’’ he said.

    Mohammed recalled the warning of President Muhammadu Buhari “against those elements who have chosen to make political fortune of our citizens’ misfortune’’.

    “Government would not tolerate any attempt by any person or group to trivialize or politicize security issues for politically motivated ends.

    “Accordingly, security agencies would not hesitate to decisively deal with such unscrupulous characters. Those are very clear words that need no elaboration.”

    It would be recalled that the PDP had taken a swipe at the Presidency alleging that both the abduction and the release of the girls were stage-managed for political purposes.

    The National Chairman and the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Prince Uche Secondus and Mr Kola Ologbondiyan – had at different news conferences demanded the probe, arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the alleged saga (NAN)

  • Presidency, PDP bicker over alleged hacking of Buhari’s personal data

    • Says allegation of planned rigging of 2019 elections laughable

    The Presidency is demanding response from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the allegation that one of the party’s supporters bankrolled the hacking of President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal data in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

    The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, said yesterday that this is one issue the PDP should address instead of  “raising false alarms in order to gain public sympathy and divert attention from its abysmal past record and failures.”

    The Guardian of London reported on Thursday that an unnamed Nigerian oil billionaire supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan paid a US company, Cambridge Analytica $2m for a covert campaign to stop Buhari.

    Material for the campaign reportedly came from Israelis who allegedly hacked into Buhari’s private e-mail.

    There is no proof that Jonathan, who lost the election, knew about the covert campaign.

    However, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday described the accusation as false. It accused President Buhari’s handlers of concocting the fabrications just to divert public attention from the overwhelming national and international rejection of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration.

    The PDP cited the verdict of the American billionaire businessman, Bill Gates on the Nigerian economic policy, which he described as failing to address human capital, as one of the instances of rejection of the nation’s economic direction by the international community.

    Shehu while also reacting to a statement by the PDP that it would drag the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and INEC to the United Nations over alleged plan or plot to rig the 2019 general elections dismissed the claim as not only laughable and puerile, but also a demonstration of the level of desperation that is haunting the opposition leaders.

    He said the PDP should address the concerns raised about its role in the mass data harvesting at the heart of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal.

    He said: “Nothing undermines a country’s democracy as such unfair practices.

    “That is why President Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment when they hacked into the opposition, Democratic Party records, and this is why a Special Counsel is investigating the alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election, and if President Donald Trump’s campaign is complicit in the attempted subversion of democracy in that country.

    “The PDP’s decision to drag the All Progressives Congress (APC) and INEC to the United Nations over alleged plan or plot to rig the 2019 general elections are not only laughable and puerile, but they also demonstrate the level of desperation that is haunting the opposition leaders.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari is passionately committed to free and fair elections in the country and for a man who joined forces with local and international observers to ensure a free and fair election which brought him to power in 2015, the President would under no circumstances tolerate any attempt to derail constitutional democracy.

    “The outcome of the gubernatorial elections in Edo, Ondo and Anambra States stand as clear examples of President Buhari’s commitment to free and fair elections in the country, and Nigerians should indeed be wary of PDP’s desperate propaganda.

    “For the PDP to be preaching free and fair elections is like a street-walker preaching about chastity.

    “We must recall that the PDP postponed the 2015 general elections in the guise of national security challenges because defeat was staring it starkly in the face. However, despite the delay tactics, it was resoundingly defeated when the polls finally held.”

    He said that the PDP has lost every moral ground and it is mortally afraid of facing the 2019 general elections because Nigerians will always remember their past and punish them one more time for economically plundering the country.

    The Cambridge Analytica hacking scandal committed against  Candidate Buhari by the PDP in 2015 in which billions of Naira was paid out to the Israelis and others hackers, he said, has shown that the former ruling party lacks both the integrity and credibility to talk about election rigging.

    “Instead of explaining their role in the scandal, the nation is greeted by stunning silence. Do they think this will simply blow away?

    “Rigging is PDP’s main area of core competence and its party leaders are drowning men who won’t mind clutching at any straw for political survival.

    “By dragging the United Nations into its political propaganda, the PDP is indirectly suggesting that it is afraid to face the voters in 2019.

    “Rather than hiding behind allegations of a plot to rig the elections, the opposition party should work harder to win back the trust of voters instead of spreading false alarm to gain international sympathy.”

    According to him, it is unfortunate that the PDP is desperately trying all dirty tricks, including the exploitation of tragedy, for political advantage.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ologbondiyan, said the said report, which came from a foreign media platform, did not mention the PDP or any of its officials as culprit.

    The statement added that the said report also exonerated former President Jonathan who was Buhari’s opponent in the 2015 presidential election, in the alleged scam.

    The statement said, “Since the PDP has never been involved in hacking into any person’s data, we decided to peruse the documents and publications in the Guardian UK, relied upon by President Buhari’s senior special assistant, Mallam Shehu Garba, only to discover that none of them alluded to any involvement of the PDP or any of our officials or members, directly or indirectly of being in any way whatsoever a part of the said saga.

    “It is incontrovertible that the documents had clinically stated that, there is no suggestion that Jonathan knew of the covert operation. Nigerians must therefore be shocked at the extent the Buhari-led Presidency can go in its penchant for beguiling, contrivance, deceit, fabrication and lies.

    “Like a bunch of famished broom, it is clear that the sinking Buhari Presidency has become desperate in its bid to divert public attention from its multifarious failures and damning verdicts from national and international figures.

    “Furthermore, it is laughable for the Presidency to say that the PDP is afraid of elections. This is the same Presidency that recently informed Nigerians that President Buhari was delaying his declaration for 2019 for fear of political opponents.

    “Who is afraid of election? Is it the PDP or the President’s APC that has failed to conform to its constitutional provision of constituting a Board of Trustees (BOT); a party which is so afraid to conduct even internal election and had to extend the tenure of its executives because its stuck 2019 presidential candidate is even afraid of other possible contestants within its fold?”

    The PDP added that from the actions of the APC, it is manifest that the party is not only mortally afraid of elections but also engaging in all manner of shenanigans to suppress opposition in the country.