Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC), is in panic and has allegedly resorted to shopping for endorsements for President Bola Tinubu.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, who stated this during an interactive session with journalists, at the party’s secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, yesterday, said the ruling party, and by extension, the Federal Government was jittery that the major opposition party was bouncing back.
Ologunagba accused the APC of running the country based on lies and propaganda, noting that the present administration has failed to provide for the welfare and security of the people as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He said the APC’s panic about the stability of the PDP has now led to the party allegedly organising groups to endorse President Tinubu for the 2027 polls.
Recently, some interest groups endorsed the President for the 2027 election, with the latest being a group of former national assembly members, who pledged support for the re-election of President Tinubu in the next general election.
However, the PDP spokesman said if the present administration has done well, it would allow its achievements to speak for it, rather than allegedly shopping for endorsements.
According to him, “The purpose of the government is the welfare and security of the people. The APC has failed on that. We are poised to return to government, that is why we are getting our acts together, like a movement, so that every member of the party has a common goal. And we are happy about that.
“The recalibration of our party in the last three months, when we began to put our acts together, has sent so much jitters to the Presidency, and of course, to President Tinubu. And that is why you see the rush and anxiety to begin to have what we describe as abandonment of government for early campaigns; clearly against the electoral act.
Other News
“We are all witnesses to even the frustration of the INEC, where they declared that this early campaign was heating up the polity, such that even as regulators they are worried. The reason for this behaviour is that the APC and President Tinubu are jittery about the recalibration of this party.
“And the fact that the PDP that is well known to Nigeria is back on the saddle, doing what it knows how to do best, which is reconciliation,is enough to send fear in their camp. That is why you find that they are beginning to campaign almost two years before the next elections. But, what they do is what I call endorsement shopping, because the President and the APC are looking for endorsement.
“If indeed, the president is doing well and the APC is succeeding, let your work speak for you. You don’t need to tell people to come and endorse you.
“It is the panic stage. The fact that they are not doing well; that they have failed and they recognize that Nigerians fully know that they have failed the country is a big source of worry to them. Endorsement is not on the pages of newspapers. Endorsement is from the people and people cannot feed their families.” Ologunagba stated that there must be a legal framework for the electronic transmission of election results, ahead of the 2027 polls.
According to him, it is curious that while Point of Sale (POS) machines, as well as Automated Teller Machines (ATM) work in all parts of the country, there were stories of glitches with the deployment of BVAS machines in the 2023 polls.
He, therefore, said the PDP would lead the campaign for a legal framework for electronic transmission of election before the next general election.
“We, as a party, are going to take the charge. Nigerians will not listen to any story about a glitch. There must be none because the infrastructure in the country today can support it. If you can support POS in the remotest part of this country, INEC should be on notice in that election.
“The 2027 election must be seamless. It must be free, fair and transparent and there must be no glitches. We, as a party, will lead the charge in this country to ensure that the process is credible and that any attempt to abridge the rights of Nigerians to choose their own leaders, of course, will be resisted,” Ologunagba added.
