The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has taken exception to comments credited to former Chief Whip of the Senate, Sola Adeyeye, who earlier in the week accused the PDP of playing poor politics ahead of the 2023 polls.
Adeyeye had in a recent television programme, “Politics Today,” took the PDP to the cleaners even as he came short of labeling those behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s rumoured third term ambition as enemies of Nigeria.
In a chat with newsmen, yesterday, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Diran Odeyemi said Adeyeye’s fixation on the party is unfortunate and a deviation from the incompetence of his own party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Odeyemi said: “The description of the politics played by the PDP as extremely poor by Prof. Sola Adeyeye is rather unfortunate and ridiculously shallow. Deviating from the crucial discussion of the necessity of the President’s boast about his intention or lack thereof to throwing jabs at the opposition reeks of nothing more than a dearth of content and value.”
According to him, “there is no doubt that the current administration has no other choice than to step down at the expiration of their tenure. This is after all the Constitutional vision of our democracy. It is, therefore, a no-brainer that come 2023, the government of Muhammadu Buhari, whether it likes it or not will bow out.
“Rather than blow the easy trumpet of vain glories, it was expected that the President would assure Nigerians of a better 2020. Had the President been serious with the business of governance, the blueprint of his agenda of hope for the New Year would have greeted the news media instead of the boastful, yet empty words of promise to step down when the tenure expires.
“It should bother every reasonable Nigerian that matters of importance and extreme urgency is recklessly abandoned on the platter of a ridiculous boast. It is surprising that rather than charge his party to step up its game, ignore trivialities and focus on the work before it, Senator Adeyeye, who is a professor seems relaxed with the activities of his party and would rather call the politics of the PDP extremely poor.”
“One would think that since Prof. Adeyeye, believes that the Constitution of Nigeria is the country’s major problem, as one-time Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate he, would have made attempts to engineer the process of amending the Constitution.
“It also smacks of an inordinate penchant for blame apportionment by the APC to rely on the move by the Senate in the past to amend the Constitution for a 3rd term agenda as a justification for the statement made by the President. Such justification can only be classified as lazy and misguided.
“The President and the APC should focus on fostering good governance rather than bask in the distasteful boast about his intention to step down.”
On Pastor Tunde Bakare’s recent call on the President to play a key role in determining his successor in 2023, the publicity scribe had this to say: “It is troubling when Nigerians who should yearn for good governance begin to buy into undemocratic tendencies.
“More troubling is it when those Nigerians are people who are able to influence a large number of people, for example, religious leaders, traditional rulers, clan heads, etc.
“The prescribed mode of selection of leaders in Nigeria has been clearly provided for by our Constitution. Section 1(2) states unequivocally that the country shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
“Our laws are that leaders are chosen by the people of Nigeria through democratic, free and fair elections, and the body saddled with the responsibility of conducting such elections and announcing the results is the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and in appropriate circumstances, the State Electoral Commission.
“The call by Pastor Tunde Bakare to President Buhari to determine his successor is therefore irresponsible and a ploy to return the country to an era of military dictatorship, monarchy and whimsical appointment. Not only is it the wrong way to go, but such calls should also be condemned in their entirety as they suggest lawlessness.”