The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Monday, disclosed that the Peoples Democratic Party had “succeeded in bringing misery” to Nigeria since it took over government in 1999.Oyegun argued that various sectors of the nation’s economy had suffered setbacks even after several promises were made by various PDP-led administrations, which he described as a “Poverty Developing Party.”
The national chairman stated this when hosted some Ijaw youths under the aegis of the Izon-Ibe Global Policy Network in Benin, the Edo State capital.
He said, “It is the only country where at least a third of crude oil production is being stolen. It is the first time in this nation, from colonial times till today, where state revenues from federation sources have deteriorated by up to 50 per cent. It is a ‘Poverty Developing Party’ because the only thing they have succeeded in doing is bringing misery to the people.”
The spokesperson for IGPN, Mr. Dennis Ayubelageta, explained that the group, which draws its membership from the Niger Delta region of the country, had decided to throw its weight behind the APC ahead of the 2015 presidential election – having been dissatisfied with the “antics, whims and caprices of the ruling party at the top.”
He also stated that it would carry out sensitisation programmes to drum support for the APC across the federation.
“Having been dissatisfied, discomfited with the antics, whims and caprices of the ruling party at the top, we have resolved to liaise and affiliate ourselves to this great party that is under the leadership of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun,” Ayubelegeta said.
Speaking further, the APC national chairman stated that the PDP-led Federal Government failed to fix the challenges caused by poor road networks and turned the nation’s power sector into its “milk cow,” rather than provide adequate electricity to energise the economy.
Odigie-Oyegun said, “You make promises but there is not one single promise that has been kept. It is a shame that we are still talking about the East-West Road more than 40 years after it was conceived.
“We talk of power. That has become a milk cow of the party (PDP), from one leadership to another leadership to the present leadership. I’m sure it will be passed on to the next leadership.
“How can you transform without power? It is just not possible, clearly not possible. Who employs people? It is the artisan. It is the medium scale businessman. It is not the oil refinery or the automated cement factory because those ones are very good. We want to have people at work but we cannot have people at work when the average artisan has to provide his own infrastructure. It’s not possible. It is clear deceit.”
Odigie-Oyegun also lamented the state of security, education and health care services in the country, which, according him, had led to the death of children at infancy more than anywhere in the world.
“Take Kogi State (for instance), the children haven’t been in school for almost one year. Salaries of civil servants have not been paid for almost one year. It is a PDP state. The level of human wellbeing here in Nigeria is lower than in most other places of the world yet it is a country where we are even having not billionaires but people who own trillions.
“It is a country where the pensions of the sweat of the ordinary man are diverted with impunity. It is the only country where petroleum subsidy can become another milk cow for the administration.
“And, as I always say, governments are supposed to bring hope to the lives of the people they are governing to improve their welfare. Hope is the only thing that keeps all of us alive,” he stated.
The former governor, who was among some eminent Nigerians who recently received national honours, noted that there would have been a high rate of suicides in the country due to its worrisome state but for “churches that keep promising miracles.”
While commending the group for “sticking out its neck” for change, Odigie-Oyegun, however, expressed confidence that the APC could salvage the country, urging youths in the country to use their votes to effect political change.
He said, “The issue facing our nation today, really, is that we are now saddled with a party and with a President who have totally run out of steam. They have run out of ideas. There is no question about that.”
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