Nigerians already bought into Atiku’s federalism plan – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that Nigerians have already bought into Atiku Abubakar’s plan on true federalism and his blueprint for good governance.

The party said its presidential candidate had prior to the February 23 presidential election promised to ensure Nigeria becomes adopts true federalism, stating that the ongoing agitation for it clearly shows that Nigerians want it.

The PDP in statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said any ploy to earn legitimacy for an alleged rigged election was dead on arrival, noting that Nigerians are very much aware that the APC-led government had never shown any commitment towards true federalism.

“Nigerians have already bought into Atiku Abubakar’s blueprint for governance, particularly his manifest genuine commitment towards the implementation of true federalism and cannot fall for empty promises by President Buhari and the APC.  

“President Buhari ought to have known that Nigerians have seen through APC’s empty promises and beguilements and as such, cannot jettison the presidential mandate they gave to Atiku Abubakar, who they know have the commitment and will power to implement true federalism in our country, when he retrieves his mandate at the courts.

“Nigerians have not forgotten how President Buhari in his 2018 New Year address, rejected the idea of restructuring, by declaring that “When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure.”

“They can also recall how on June 9, 2017, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, in a Radio Nigeria (FRCN) interview programme, had stated that restructuring is not President Buhari’s priority.

“Nigerians can also recall how the Kaduna state governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, on June 29, 2017, during an interview on Channels TV, denied that the APC promised restructuring and described Nigerians, who are taking his party to task on the issue, as “political opportunists and irresponsible” people.

“Our citizens have not forgotten ‘to hell with restructuring’, outburst of Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima, a statement that captured the mindset of the totality of APC leaders towards true federalism and restructuring.

“The PDP, therefore, counsels President Buhari’s handlers to help him use the remaining part of this tenure to find solutions for the problems caused by his incompetent administration, instead of engaging in unnecessary acceptance shopping mechanisms for a rigged 2019 presidential election.”

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