PDP Governors Advise NASS To Override President‘s Veto or Remove controversial Clause

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APC a massive failure compared to our government ― PDP governors

Frank Usoro

The Governors‘ Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who met in Port Harcourt has urged the National Assembly to override the veto of President Muhammadu Buhari on the Amendment of the Electoral Act or delete areas of complaints in the amended act in order to conclude the process of the amendment.

In a nine-point communique issued at the end of over five hours meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt Monday, the PDP governors, argued that an early concluded Electoral Act amendment was vital for credible elections in the country.

The communique was read by the Chairman of the forum and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who congratulated the PDP family for conducting a successful convention that led to the emergence of the Dr. Iyorchia Ayu-led national executive committee.

“The PDP governors requested the National Assembly to quickly conclude deliberations on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill either by overriding Mr. President’s veto or deleting areas of complaints.

“The meeting advised that the option of sustaining Mr. President’s veto would lead to a quicker resolution and would deny Mr. President the opportunity to once again truncate a reformed Electoral jurisprudence for Nigeria. An early concluded Electoral Act is vital for credible elections,” the communique read in part.

Tambuwal further said: “The PDP governors congratulated the entire PDP family for conducting a smooth and credible National Convention that led to the emergence of the highly acclaimed Senator Iyorchia Ayu-led National Executive Commit

“The meeting commended the new PDP NWC for hitting the ground running with respect to repositioning the PDP into a credible vehicle for rescuing and rebuilding Nigeria which has been battered by a bad economy, insecurity, unemployment and other social ills by the incompetent and inept APC administration.”

The governors lamented that the nation’s economy has continued to deteriorate, saying that the party handed over a $550 billion economy to APC in 2015, while the ruling party has turned the country into the poverty capital of the world.

They stated further: “The Nigerian economy has continued to deteriorate and Nigerians have become numb and accustomed to bad economic news as exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high-interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures and borrowing spree some of which have not been applied to important projects, and other bad economic indicators.

“In particular, it is clear that the APC government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government. The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa), but under APC, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world.

In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per Dollar, it is now under APC almost N500 to a dollar; In 2015, the unemployment rate was 7.3% under PDP, it is now 33%, one of the highest in the world under APC; in 2015, the pump price of petroleum was N87 per litre, it is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC. Debt servicing now under APC takes over 98% of the Federal budget. The tales of woe are endless.

The meeting lamented the continued state of insecurity in the country, the persistent and ceaseless flow of Nigerians’ blood on a daily basis in many parts of Nigeria, the near-collapse of the security situation in Nigeria. The strategies to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits, and other criminals are still a major problem of the APC administration.

“The meeting expressed regrets that Mr President is unwilling, from his recent comments discountenancing the proposals for state policing, to participate in reviewing the structural problems of tackling insecurity in Nigeria and urges Mr President to reconsider his position and consider decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for security agencies.

“The PDP governors noted that the management of our oil and gas resources, the administration of Federation Account remittances have remained opaque, confusing and non – transparent. In addition, the transition to NNPC Ltd under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of Government are protected, consistent with the 1999 Constitution.

“The meeting urged eligible Nigerians of all walks of life, particularly the Youths, to register en masse with INEC to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general elections.

“It further noted that the next election is a very consequential election that should be used to end the dominance of youth unfriendly APC Government; a government that had the arrogance to deny Nigerian youths of the use of Twitter, a business-friendly tool for the young, for over a year. The youth should empower themselves to determine who leads them.”

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