The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Uche Secondus has described the 2020 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari as voodoo and was sent without the budget estimates.
He stated this Friday in Abuja
when he inaugurated the Kogi and Bayelsa states National Campaign Council as well as the party’s National Reconciliation Committee.
Secondus said, “There is confusion all over the place: confusion in the villa, confusion in the other room even confusion in the presentation of the budget. Of course, that budget is voodoo budget. That budget is empty. They sent the budget without estimates. They should learn how to properly present a budget.
“The National Assembly cannot commence debate on a budget not tied to any estimate. Of course, as far as we are concerned, they have already passed the budget without estimates. As far as we are concerned, All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed.”
The Chairman further charged members of the committee to realize that Kogi and Bayelsa states are the strongholds of the party and must ensure that PDP is victorious at the polls.
He said: “Ordinarily, given the enviable achievements of our party in Bayelsa state in the area of delivering democracy dividends to the people in the last eight years under the leadership of our able Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Chief Seriake Dickson, and the very awful performance of APC government in Kogi state, the two states should be a smooth contest for us, but intelligence available to the party shows that the APC is planning charade elections in these states; as was witnessed in Ekiti, Osun, Kano and Kaduna states”.
He further disclosed that the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have perfected strategies to ensure that the election is skewed to favour the ruling party.
He said, “I want to urge all our members and supporters in these two states to refuse to be intimidated by the APC’s evil design of using violence and money to undermine the electoral process. We also call on members of the press and international election observers to show more diligence in their responsibilities.
“What the APC has done with the power in the last five years does not encourage any lover of democracy and good governance to go their way. Earlier this week, for instance, a credible international agency, Oxfam released disturbing data showing that Nigerians are living below the poverty threshold, meaning extreme poverty has increased from 91.5 million it was in April this year to 94.5 within six months.”
He equally called on the Reconciliation Committee led by former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, to ensure that feuds within the party are settled to enable the party go into the election as a united family.
In his address the Chairman of the Kogi State National Campaign Council and Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, assured that he will put everything in place to ensure victory for the party.
He said, “We will do you proud. The election in Kogi and Bayelsa is another opportunity to press the political reset button for the country. It will start with this election and culminate in the national election in 2023. When they are planning evil, we shall run an election that will be peaceful.
“Like in Oyo, we won the heart of the people. In the new PDP, we will do what is right. I told former governor Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada that if they come together, victory will be assured in Kogi state”.
On his part, Chairman of the Bayelsa State National Campaign Council and governor of Bauchi state, Senator Bala Mohammed, said that reconciliation is critical for victory in Bayelsa.
“My acceptance is payback for what the PDP has done for me. Bayelsa is my second home because of what former President Goodluck Jonathan has done for me. For me after God, it is President Jonathan. I accept it because the former president has asked me to do so. For me reconciliation has started. For me, there is no progress without reconciliation.
“I am taking this business with all the responsibility it needs. If the other side is planning evil, we shall plan good. If they are planning failure, we shall plan well. We shall usher in a new dawn in Bayelsa state,” Mohammed assured.
Also in his remarks, the National Reconciliation Committee in Kogi and Bayelsa, immediate past Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, assured that all measures will be put in place to ensure that all waring factions in the party are reconciled.
“The work to win Kogi and Bayelsa begins and ends with reconciliation and to show we are serious about the future. We need to reconcile because whoever PDP picks is better than the man at the other side. The reconciliation is the foundation of victory,” he stated.
The Kogi Campaign Council is made up of 143 members with Governor Darius Ishiaku as the Vice Chairman just as the Bayelsa team also has 143 members with Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue as the Vice Chairman while the Reconciliation Committee is made up of 5 members.
