The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday criticised President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day speech, saying that a review of the address showed that he had nothing to tell Nigerians.
The party claimed that even the President himself did not believe in what he read to Nigerians.
The reaction came as the PDP reiterated that its scheduled November 15 Ibadan Elective National Convention would hold despite alleged attempts by forces both within and outside the party to cause ‘distractions’ for it.
The National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Debo Ologunagba, giving the PDP’s assessment of Tinubu’s 65th independence anniversary speech in Abuja, described it as replete with ‘lies’, ‘boring’, ‘uninspiring’ and allegedly did little to impress any Nigerian.
‘The speech, to say the least, was pathetic, boring and uninspiring. Typical of the APC’s propaganda, it was full of lies and poor statistics.
‘Even the President didn’t believe in what he was reading. He was saying things that were completely incorrect. The whole speech was at variance with the reality on the ground’, Ologunagba told a news conference.
The PDP said the ‘most shocking’ part of the speech was when Tinubu said the country’s economy had improved and that Nigerians were faring better than when he took over the reins of power in 2023.
‘The President saying the economy is working and has turned the corner. That was shocking. Is he talking about turning the corner on insecurity, the corner on parents not being able to pay school fees?’, the spokesman asked.
He accused the APC-led government of returning Nigeria to ‘bondage’ of poor economic management and insecurity, years after the PDP had freed the nation from such problems.
For instance, Ologunagba cited the country’s debt burden, recalling a point in Nigeria’s history when it exited the debt trap during the PDP days.
The party called on the President to address the nation again to speak on the obvious questions they expected him to answer: ‘From subsidy withdrawal alone, how much has been saved exactly? We don’t know. We keep hearing of borrowings, and we are going deeper and deeper into problems. What have the loans been spent on?’
Ologunagba added, ‘Nigerians and the PDP, we seek a special broadcast on the details of the subsidy removal, details of loans and the application of those loans.’
On the Ibadan convention, the party noted that the distractions, which it blamed on the APC and some collaborators in-house, would go ahead as planned because ‘the train has arrived in Ibadan; we are far ahead of the distractions.’
Commenting on the seeming disagreement between the National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, exhibited by Anyanwu countering decisions taken by the NWC, Ologunagba stated that it would appear that the secretary lacked understanding of the provisions of the PDP’s constitution.
He explained that while the National Chairman, as Chief Executive Officer of the party, could summon any meetings and direct any actions to be taken by the party, the secretary is an administrative officer whose primary duty is to implement directives or decisions taken by the party.
The spokesman further explained that it would be unheard of to say decisions taken at properly-convened meetings of the NWC, such as the postponement of state congresses in Cross River, Plateau and Kebbi, as well as the dissolution of the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council, would be overturned by the secretary.
He added that Section 35 of the PDP constitution empowers the National Chairman to summon and preside over the NWC and caucuses of the party, powers not shared with the secretary.
He also explained that the chairman could delegate such powers to any other NWC member whenever necessary.
‘So, the secretary can’t summon meetings or authorise any meetings’, Ologunagba stated, adding, ‘So, if the party says there is no Congress in Cross River or a dissolution of an Exco, why should an individual oppose it?
He dismissed claims that the NWC never met or took any decisions, saying that 16 out of 18 members of the committee met.
In the case of Akwa Ibom, the PDP said it observed a ‘misnomer’ playing out, where Governor Umo Eno, who had defected to the APC, was bent on controlling the PDP structure in the state by attempting to fuse the two parties.
According to Ologunagba, allowing the arrangement to continue would be in violation of Section 10(6) of the PDP’s constitution, ‘which does not allow any member of the party to align with another group to undermine the party.’
Last week, the National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) notifying it of the decision of the NWC to postpone state congresses in Cross River, Plateau and Kebbi States to a new date after due consultations.
But, Anyanwu immediately wrote to the INEC, urging the commission to ignore Damagum’s letter because the congresses scheduled for Saturday, September 27, would be held.
The congress was indeed held in Cross River, returning Mr Venatius Ikem as the state chairman, though on Monday, September 28, the NWC disowned the congress, calling it a ‘carnival.’
On Tuesday this week, the PDP announced the dissolution of the Akwa Ibom exco. But just like it happened last week, the national secretary countered the decision again by writing to the dissolved exco members to ignore the NWC.
Investigations showed that the PDP moved to reposition the party in Akwa Ibom, following the defection of Governor Eno to the APC in an apparent bid to cut ties between him and the state exco led by Mr Aniekan Akpan.
Akpan, not willing to let go and now backed by some influential party leaders in Abuja, is staying put in office, despite his sacking by the NWC.
Before now, Governor Eno, in a leaked video, had spoken of his intention to work with both the structures of the PDP and the APC in the state for the unity of the state.
‘As a matter of fact, contrary to some insinuations, I want to run both parties (APC and PDP)? Far from it. And what is wrong with being interested? We would not leave the PDP for thieves to hijack and use it against us.
‘If anybody thinks we are going to do that, they have something coming. We will lead the structure of the party (PDP) so that they can work together (with APC). So that people don’t come from outside and think that Mr Eno has moved, let me come and hijack the party. Let the structure of the party remain.
‘They have done their congresses. That’s my position,’ the governor had revealed.
Just days ago, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, had praised Governor Eno’s decision to dump the PDP, an action seen by many political watchers as absurd in the ongoing struggle for the control of the soul of the once-largest political party in Africa.