Primaries will tear APC apart –PDP
JUNE 3, 2013
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party has said that the opposition political parties merging to form the All Progressive Congress do not have the capacity to hold primaries to choose those who would be contesting on its platform in 2015.
The PDP said if the APC held primaries, many of its supporters would be angry with the outcome and this would tear the party apart.
“We challenge the opposition also to be bold enough to hold primaries when the time comes. Many of those singing praises of the alliance will be betrayed and victimised by the godfathers and it will dawn on them that they have been deceived,” the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
But the APC has said it is not afraid of conducting primaries.
It said Nigerians believed in it because they know they would not give automatic ticket to any aspirant.
While taking stock of the unfolding political events in the country, including merger arrangements, Metuh said that there were positive signs and concrete indications that the PDP would still win the Presidency and more states by 2015.
He dispelled fears that divergence of views and opinions among members of the PDP were capable of weakening it ahead of the 2015 elections.
Metuh said the PDP appeared to be in crisis because all members of the party had opportunity to air their views and to freely canvass their opinions unlike what he said obtained in the opposition parties where he said opinions and views of members had been muzzled by political godfathers.
He, therefore, dismissed as “shadow chasing and day-dreaming,” boasts by the leaders of the APC that they would take over government in 2015.
While saying that power lies only with the people and not in the hands of few individuals, Metuh added that the opposition alliance would soon be in disarray. He said that most of those in the ranks would be betrayed and victimised by the godfathers, who, he said, saw the coalition as their personal estates.
Metuh said the opposition were already doomed “to fail as Nigerians have since realised that they are merely strange bed fellows” who have nothing to offer but united by “bitterness, frustration, and religious and tribal sentiments.”
According to him, “We welcome the opposition to the contest. However, they are already doomed to failure because Nigerians have since realised their undemocratic tendencies and desperation for power for selfish reasons.
He said, “Nigerians know that they are merely strange bed fellows who are united by bitterness, frustration and religious and tribal sentiments and not for the national interest.
“They have continued to betray their lust and inner disposition by their utterances in seeking to ‘seize power’ which has remained their only agenda.
“They fail to understand that in a democracy, power is not to be seized. It is conferred by the people and this is the reason the people have continued to identify with the PDP.
“The PDP believes in the people. No individual, group or tribe owns the PDP. It belongs to all Nigerians. The PDP is a big family, united in freedom. In a family there are bound to be divergence of opinions and views and this occurs where people are free.
“What outsiders see as internal disagreements is actually a reflection of the democratic stance of the PDP.”
“The PDP is the only party where people are absolutely free to express their views and freely canvass their opinions unlike in the opposition parties where the views and opinions of members are muzzled by their godfathers,” he added.
Speaking for the APC, the National Publicity of the Congress for Progressive Change which is a major factor in the merger, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said the PDP was already afraid of the party even when it had yet to take off fully.
He said, “It is good that the PDP is acknowledging that fact that we are going to do primaries.
“This is different from what you have in the PDP where its leaders are already saying that there won’t be any primaries and that they already know who will be their candidates.
“Tell them that they do not need to fear and panic too much now. What is however certain is that come 2015, Nigerians would say bye-bye to this clueless and visionless regime.”
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria on Sunday said that contrary to insinuations it would not be possible for any single individual to attempt to hijack the APC.
The Deputy National Chairman of ACN, Mr. Boss Mustapha, made the clarification during the public presentation of a book entitled, “Engendering Progressive Politics-APC: Challenges of reforming Nigerian Politics” in Abuja. The book is written by a former Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Salisu Lukman, and it outlined procedures to reposition the progressives in the nation’s politics.
Mustapha said the APC which metamorphosed from the merger of the ACN, CPC, All Nigerian People Party and some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance would not be under the control of an individual.
He said, “The opposition merger plan cuts across party lines and is made up of credible people who have decided to take their destinies in their hands. We needed to go and identify with the yearnings of our people who are lamenting the lack of progress in the last 14 years.
“If anything, the facilities that were there before have disappeared and what is now left is religious and ethnic bigotry. They said they are tired of the situation, they said this, and no one forced them to make up their minds. So, no individual can hijack the merger platform because APC has taken a life of its own.”
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