The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday fired back at the
President Goodluck Jonathan administration, which accused it of
conducting itself as if it was a parallel government and of heating up
the polity. The incoming ruling party refuted the allegations levelled
against it and accused the Jonathan administration of engaging in
blackmail in a bid to hinder a smooth handover of power on May 29.
It warned that neither the party nor the President- elect, Major
General Muhammadu Buhari, would surrender to any blackmail, subtle or
otherwise from the incumbent government. APC’s riposte to the attack by
the Jonathan administration, launched on Wednesday after the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, came just as the president
queried Buhari’s victory in the presidential election.
The party, in a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was becoming apparent that the
incumbent government would not fully cooperate with the incoming
government, despite its public posturing. APC described as an act of
hostility and a patently misplaced aggression the unnecessary
vituperation against the incoming Buhari administration by the Jonathan
government.
The party also rejected the continued blackmail by the Jonathan
administration as a result of the president’s concession of defeat,
wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a
shield for all wrong doings. “We are sick and tired of being blackmailed
by the Jonathanians. General Buhari won the March 28 presidential
election fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other
statutory requirements.
We have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat –
while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan –
has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of General
Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress,” APC stated.
Justifying its statement that the Jonathan administration is plotting to
hinder a smooth transition of power, APC said while the outgoing
government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and
agencies (MDAs) to make sure their handover notes were ready by April
20, it had reversed itself by giving a new May 14 deadline.
“With the new date, the Buhari Transition Committee will have little
or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek
clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari
Transition Committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are
concerned.
This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the
impression that the outgoing administration is trying to hide something.
“By its dilly-dallying on the date for the readiness of the handover
notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to
hand over has been exposed as nothing, but a smokescreen,” it said. APC
described as illogical and strange the claim by the Jonathan
administration that the presidentelect is trying to set up a parallel
government simply because he has set up his own transition committee and
gave it terms of reference to guide the members on the discharge of
their duties.
It wondered how on earth those terms of reference have become the
concern of the outgoing FEC. “In case the Federal Executive Council has
forgotten, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress was
declared the winner of the March 28 presidential election by INEC.
General Muhammadu Buhari is, therefore, today the president-elect and
the All Progressives Congress the incoming government. It is therefore
illogical to accuse the president-elect and the incoming government of
setting up a parallel government.
“It is either the outgoing Federal Executive Council has something to
hide or is bent on sabotaging the incoming government. There can be no
other reasons for the misplaced aggression that was exhibited in that
ill-intentioned, unprovoked and vitriolic statement from the Jonathan
government,” the party said. APC also warned Jonathan’s supporters not
to overstretch the goodwill, which the president has earned by his
gracious concession even before the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) officially declared Buhari winner of the March 28
election. It said while Jonathan’s concession of defeat was momentous;
it was not unprecedented in Africa, where power has changed hands
peacefully between the ruling and opposition parties in several nations.
However, the president, despite conceding defeat, yesterday queried
Buhari’s victory in the presidential election. Jonathan, while receiving
the report of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign
Organisation (PPCO), doubted some of the figures credited to the party
in some states. He said: “PDP is still the dominant party. If you look
at the result, the difference is just 2.5 million votes and if you look
at the areas where it is perceived that PDP scored so low, PDP couldn’t
have gotten those kinds of scores but the elections are over, the
country first.”
He also said he needed not to consult anyone before conceding defeat
to Buhari. While addressing key party leaders and officers who played
vital roles in the campaign organisation, Jonathan said he was convinced
that conceding defeat at the point he called Buhari was important to
save Nigeria from any possible crisis. He said in taking that critical
decision, there was no need consulting anyone since he was taking it on
behalf of his party and supporters. “Yes, I did not consult anybody
before I made that phone call, but I made that phone call on behalf of
all you and on behalf of the PDP,” he stated. According to him, the
stability of the country will continue to remain paramount at all time.
“My conviction is that you must have a country before you can hold an
office,” he added.
The president said despite the defeat, PDP would remain the most
dominant and organised party not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa. He
also told the party leaders not to worry about members who have
defected to APC since the defeat of PDP in the general elections.
“Don’t be so disillusioned. Those who are already running around and
cross carpeting will come back with empty stomach. Yes we lost the
election, but that is minor for now.” He said after some time, people
would give different accounts of the 2015 elections just like key
players in the civil war did in their books. While presenting the
report, Director-General of the PCO, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, commended the
president for showing exemplary leadership and making the PDP proud
despite losing to the APC.
“You made the world proud by conceding defeat even when you had
several options. You proved to the world that you are committed to your
credo that no one’s blood is worth your political ambition. “By that
singular act, you pulled Nigeria back from a seeming pre-determined
precipice and you made us proud. While you assuredly lost in the
ballots, you won the biggest victory in defeat by that historic phone
call. “A lot of lessons were learnt from the elections and these will be
used to wrest power from the current winners in future,” he stated.
Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, said the
party did not win the presidential election but as a leader, Jonathan
won peace for the country. He said what Jonathan did was in the interest
of the corporate existence of Nigeria. While the president was
consoling members of the party at the event, National Coordinator of the
Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Chief Ifeanyi Uba, broke
down and was seen weeping profusely. He was consoled by some officials
and guided out before the end of the meeting.
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