The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Media Watchdog on Wednesday reacted to the statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari in which he declared and admitted that age would limit the rate of his performance in office as President of Nigeria as reported in some national dailies.
But the National Working Committee of the PDP has disowned the Media Watchdog, a group within the PDP, over the statement demanding Buhari’s resignation.
The group said APC and President Buhari are a gang of hypocrites and liars.
“The PDP is again vindicated by this confession from President Muhammadu Buhari and many more that are yet to come.
“Nigerians will recall that during the presidential campaigns, the PDP and other well meaning Nigerians complained on the choice of sponsoring Pa. Muhammadu Buhari as Presidential Candidate of APC and the effect it will have on the country when it comes to managing the affairs of a multi dimensional nation like Nigeria, but the APC and its leaders said that age is just a number,” the group said in a statement signed by Tunde Lawal, one of its coordinators.
The PDP Media Watchdog said it was reminding Nigerians of their earlier statements on the need for the people of the country to challenge the numerous inconsistencies of the APC administration and “call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign immediately to save the country of this four years of motion without movement.”
According to the group, all that the APC government had done since May 29 is that Buhari and the APC “have hit the ground sitting instead of running as they promised.
“It’s barely three weeks into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his age is already telling on him, so, what will happen to Nigeria in the remaining 1,440 days of this government?
“It’s better to find a black goat in the day time than looking for it in the night and this is why we are asking President Buhari to resign now because Nigerians will not entertain further excuses on why the APC cannot deliver on their campaign promises.”
The group also gave another example of how President Buhari’s age is affecting his performance and reminded Nigerians of how he disgraced the country in a world forum when he referred to the Chancellor of Germany as President of West Germany.
“Nigerians saw this all along during the campaigns but could not resist the broom stick voodoo that the APC used to hypnotise the people.
“Nigerians will also recall that this same Pa. Buhari could not remember the complete name of His Vice Presidential Candidate and even the full name of his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) under which platform he was contesting and instead referred to it as the All Progressive Confidence during the campaigns.
“How long will a nation like Nigeria, the giant of Africa remained under this hypnosis of the APC,” the group queried.
Finally, the Watchdog urged the people of Nigeria to wake up to the challenge and “resist this daylight robbery and blackmail of the APC and demand the immediate resignation of Muhammadu Buhari and call for another election to elect a more competent and vibrant Nigerian to lead the people to the Nigeria of our dreams.”
Shortly after, the PDP, through its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh denied knowing the group or having anything to do with it.
Metuh said: “The attention of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press statement by a group parading as PDP Media Watchdog and purporting to be working within and in the interest of our great party.
“This group is absolutely unknown to the PDP and has no connection whatsoever with our party at any level, neither is the content of their statement a reflection of the position or stance of the party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our great party has not authorized this group to use its name, acronym or logo to issue statements or make public pronouncements on any matter and we caution those behind them to henceforth desist from such immediately.
“The PDP therefore distances itself from the embarrassing statement by this group wherein it called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign and went ahead to use offensive and denigrating language on the person and office of the President of our great country.
“This is completely unacceptable and against the posture of the PDP to engage only on robust and credible opposition while constructively offering alternatives to the programmes and policies of the APC-led government, preparatory to our return to power in the next four years.
“We note with dismay that the attitude of this group is a direct consequence of the approach adopted by the APC in denigrating and insulting our immediate-past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
“Though we know that former President Jonathan suffered such fate in the hands of the APC, we shall not repay them in the same coin as such is not part of our tradition and value as a party.
“Furthermore, recall that the PDP had earlier informed the public and the media that only statements issued by the National Chairman, the National Secretary, the National Publicity Secretary or any other officer of the party authorized by the National Working Committee (NWC) should be regarded or reported as the position of the PDP on any matter.
“In this regard, any group or individuals seeking to use the identity of the PDP on any issue should approach the leadership for authorisation. We urge the media and the general public to be guided by this always.”
APC Blasts ‘PDP Media Watchdog’ For Asking Buhari To Resign
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a product of poor thinking and deliberate mischief, the statement credited to the so-called PDP Media Watchdog asking President Muhammadu Buhari to resign because of his comments about his age.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the authors of the statement had understood simple English, taking the pains to engage in deep thinking and contextualised the comments, they would not have rushed to the press to ask the President to resign.
Mohammed said: “What President Buhari was saying, which was lost on those who issued that jejune statement, is that only his love and passion for the country could have made him, at his age, to come out of retirement to seek the office of President, over 30 years after he presided over the affairs of the country.
“For 16 years, Nigerians gave the PDP the benefit of the doubt to move the country forward, but instead, the party put Nigeria in reverse gear at a high speed, spinning it towards a doomsday that was only averted when Nigerians showed the PDP the red card.
“This is what necessitated President Buhari to continuously seek the country’s highest political office, so he can help put the country on a forward march again.
“Nothing else matters, not for him the excitement of an office he previously held and the quest for personal accomplishment.
“If the country had been well managed, President Buhari will not at 72 be criss-crossing the whole world seeking solution to Nigeria’s problems, it said.
APC said within three weeks of his inauguration, President Buhari has succeeded in returning Nigeria to the comity of nations, to such an
extent that world leaders are now so eager to engage him on how to assist his country in key areas, including security and the fight against corruption.
“Within three weeks of President Buhari’s inauguration, he had done what the PDP government could not do in six years: Invigorate the fight against Boko Haram by rallying a regional and global front against the terror group.
“Today, the US has pledged to give $5 million for the fight against Boko Haram, in addition to other material support. This is apart from the support that has been pledged by the G-7 for Nigeria’s efforts to quell the insurgency.
“Thanks to President Buhari’s shuttle diplomacy, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) that the PDP government could not bring together for all of six years is ready to deploy next month, while the President has ordered the release of $21 million to facilitate the establishment of the headquarters of the force in N’Djamena, Chad.
“Since assuming office about three weeks ago, President Buhari has visited Chad, Niger, Germany and South Africa, winning support and friends for Nigeria all over again and returning the country to the comity of respected nations.
“Those who were put off by the PDP government’s resort to politicizing the fight against Boko Haram – even as the insurgents grew stronger – are now joining President Buhari to battle the terrorists. In no distant future, the results of his tireless efforts will begin to show.
“On the domestic front, President Buhari has been handling pressing issues far away from the klieg light, and his efforts to assembly a first class team to implement his change mantra, which he is personally driving, are continuing apace.
“We in the APC, and we are sure most unbiased Nigerians, are very proud of President Buhari and the vigour he has shown in governance, the kind of vigour we did not see in the immediate past administration that was presided over by a far younger man.”
Mohammed said only anarchists and non-democrats will ask a President who has not spent one month in office to resign, adding that it rankles when those making these calls are from the ranks of the party that failed to avail itself creditably in 16 years.
APC said it has deliberately refused to join issues with the PDP, which has been issuing a series of insipid press statements that showed clearly that the party is not ready to provide a robust opposition to the APC-led Federal Government.
“For the umpteenth time, we say that the PDP and its satellite bodies must realise that in order to be relevant, credible and to make the necessary impact, they must pick on real issues and articulate them intelligently, rather than latching on to trite matters. This very amateurish display won’t get them anywhere,” Mohammed said.