Ayu Takes Over At PDP, Serves APC Quit Notice

Newly inaugurated national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, on Friday served the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC a quit notice on the premise of its failure to deliver on its electoral promises and apprehensions of running Nigeria aground.

Ayu who took over as the new chairman also pledged the preparedness of his leadership to embrace the triple virtues of consultation, teamwork and internal democracy in running the affairs of the party.

Ayu stated this at the presentation of certificates of return to NWC members following their victory at the October 31st national elective convention in Abuja.

Accompanied to the International Conference Centre, Abuja by family members, friends and political associates, Ayu paid glowing tributes to the party’s founding fathers for their role in bringing Nigerians of diverse backgrounds to form the PDP in 1998.

Speaking on the theme, rescue and rebuild Nigeria, “On behalf of the new NWC, I pledge to be guided by consultation, team-work, internal democracy and national interest. To all non-PDP members, we say our umbrella can accommodate all of us. And to our members who left, I urge you to come back home; our doors are still open,” he said.

The new leadership according to the former Senate President, “marks a new journey and a new direction for the PDP. As one who was part of those that founded the party in 1998, I am well aware of its core values and vision which are centred around the people and their well-being,” he added.

He continued: “Our task at this auspicious moment is to return the party to the people. But to do that, the party needs to be reinvigorated, reinvented and re-positioned. We are not unmindful of our missed steps and actions in the past, but we have learnt our lessons, both in government and in opposition. Today, we stand tall, and with a firm resolve to rebuild our great party and rescue our nation.

“The PDP is the only organic political party in Nigeria that has remained a credible, tested, tasted and trusted mass movement since the return of democracy in 1999. Other political parties have either fizzled away or merged with others.

“Some have mutated into a contraption like the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, without any clear ideology or a coherent programme of action. This contraption seduced Nigerians with propaganda in 2015. Today, Nigerians have seen the limit of propaganda and demagoguery. The only thing the APC is doing successfully is irresponsible borrowing.

“The PDP, on the other hand, has a history of performance and legacy achievements. In our 16 years in power, we not only gave Nigerians good governance, we also strengthened democratic institutions so as to add value to the people. In an unprecedented move, we stabilized our democracy by sanitizing the armed forces of politically exposed officers.

“We gave Nigeria her first-ever successful transition from one civilian administration to another in 2007. To the disbelief of all watchers of African politics, we willingly conceded defeat in 2015, and handed over power to an opposition party in 2015.      

“It was the PDP-federal government that created value-adding public institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Debt Management Office, DMO, the Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP, among many others.

“The PDP administration also strengthened the governance process by enacting laws to effectively drive public administration in Nigeria, namely: the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Mid-Term Expenditure Frame-Work, the Treasury Single Account, TSA, Integrated Personal and Payroll Information Systems, IPPIS just to mention a few.”

The PDP-led government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, according to Ayu, “negotiated and obtained forgiveness of over $30 Billion of debt, making Nigeria almost a debt-free country. Foreign direct investments flowed in. Cumulatively, the foregoing made Nigeria, not only the fastest growing economy in Africa, but also the biggest economy on the continent.”

Why Ayu Served APC Quit Notice

That said, Ayu slammed the APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari to the cleaners, saying “from the biggest economy in 2015, the APC has given the country two recessions and turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world. Today, close to 40 million Nigerians have no jobs.”

He continued: “In the last six years, the APC-led government has mismanaged our diversity; divided the country along regional and religious lines. It has exacerbated religious tensions in the country.

“And through its marriage to nepotism, the incompetent APC- federal government is fueling secessionist agitations in the East and West of Nigeria.

“Our dear Nigeria is drifting dangerously towards a failed state. Terrorists are now sharing sovereignty with Nigeria. Nigeria is simply ungoverned. Nigeria is collapsing under the leadership of a retired general!

“The APC used both the mainstream media and the social media to access power. Today, it coordinates a systematic assault on the media, civic freedoms and freedom of speech.

“Let me give you the grim legacy of the APC: two economic recessions in six years. A sluggish Gross Domestic Product, GDP growth rate of below two percent.

“About 40 million Nigerians have been pushed into extreme poverty in six years.

Inflation is at an all-time high at 18 per cent.

“A weak and devalued Naira; devalued by over 300 per cent since 2015, has made our currency the worst in Africa.

“Unemployment now stands at 33 per cent,   meaning close to 40 million Nigerians, willing and able to work, can’t find jobs.

“A total debt stock of over $90 billion now hangs over Nigeria. An erratic exchange rate regime has depleted N324 against the US Dollar in the last six years.

“Kidnapping for ransom is now big business. We share sovereignty with terrorists who kidnap and rape our women, including our mothers and under-aged children.

The terrorists even kill them when ransom is delayed. These are not political alarms, but statements of facts.

“But I stand here today, not to merely recount APC’s spectacular failures. I stand here to assure you that PDP is back to rescue and rebuild Nigeria.     Under the new NWC, PDP will strengthen its internal democratic processes. We shall endeavour to reach out to all party members, young and old, male and female.

“This National Working Committee will create alternate platforms within the party to actively engage the young people and our women, not only for mobilizing and winning elections, but for advocacy, policy formulation and the design of a new development agenda for the party.”

He did not stop there as he promised to expand Nigeria’s international vision “beyond Niger Republic.”

The event was attended by top party’s functionaries including Governors Aminu Tambuwal, Samuel Ortom, Ahmadu Fintiri, Ifeanyi Okowa, Seyi Makinde and Duoye Diri, of Sokoto, Benue, Adamawa, Delta, Oyo and Bayelsa states respectively.

Ayu said he was serving APC quit notice and the ruling party should prepare their handover note.

Source: Saturday Vanguard

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