SAN FRANCISCO, August 31, (THEWILL) – The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government of bastardising the independence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC.
Recalling that both anti-graft agencies were created during its 16-year reign to tackle the scourge of corruption in the country, the main opposition party claimed it had remained the only viable, prosperous and most visionary political party in Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Thursday to coincide with the August 31, 1998 date when the PDP was established, it pleaded with Nigerians to return the former ruling party to power come 2019, stressing that it had learnt from its past mistakes.
The statement signed by the PDP Head of Publicity Department, Mrs. Chinwe Nnorom, said, “PDP administration established two major anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission to curb the menace of corruption in the country.
“These efforts reduced corrupt practices and further increased the confidence of foreign investors that resulted in huge investment inflows into the country.
“The APC-led government of today has destroyed the independence of these agencies with their selective approach of using ‘deodorants’ when APC members are involved and ‘insecticides’ when it concerns the PDP members and other Nigerians.”
Nnorom stated that the chairman of PDP’s National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, congratulated members and supporters of the former ruling party on the achievement.
“As s a human organisation, there might have been some issues or areas we could not cover when we were governing. We promise to make amends as and when given the opportunity again in 2019,” the statement added.
The former ruling party believes Nigerians have not forgotten the enormous infrastructural developments, policies and programmes developed by it as against what now obtains under the reigning APC-led government.
It added, “The PDP no doubt, initiated several reforms that transformed the country from the decay of long years of military dictatorship/failed civilian administration and never resorted to self- pity, blame and propaganda as it’s seen today.
“For the record, in 1999 the image of Nigeria internationally was in a deplorable state with very poor human rights records. The PDP took conscious steps to change that perception and within a very short period, it restored the country to its pride of place among the comity of nations. We promise to do it again come 2019.”
The party remembered how former President Olusegun Obasanjo “worked diligently with other western powers to settle all our foreign debts accumulated by the military, thereby detaching Nigeria’s economy from the burden.
The PDP noted that Nigeria’s unity remained the core principle of the founding fathers, saying throughout the 16 years of the PDP government, the party took deliberate actions to sustain and maintain this principle by building bridges across the nation.
It argued that this could not be said of the APC-led administration given its alleged lopsided appointments, which the opposition party contended had aggravated the agitations for self-determination and secession by some sections of the country.
The main opposition party however pointed out that it would not support such agitations.
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