The opposition Peoples Democratic Party is worried that despite continuous plea for patience, President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, do not inspire desired confidence in the citizenry that they are adequately equipped and ready to chart a direction for the enormous challenges of governance.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said rather than embarking on a journey to change as they claim, “all we have witnessed are avoidable tension, wrangling within the ruling party, disruption of legislative activities in our National Assembly, painful economic stagnation, pronouncement of voodoo achievements and overall uncertainty in the polity all due to the apparent inability of our respected President to provide leadership”.
According to Metuh: “We have a President and a party that have since thirty–two days been unable to decide on rudimentary appointments such as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff to the President, ministers and his demand for 15 Special Advisers as approved by the PDP
controlled Seventh Assembly since June 5, 2015.
“Even the very little intervention made on appointments such as those of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Acting Chairman of INEC, have not shown our beloved President as an even handed and patriotic leader resulting in the confusion and crisis of confidence that have trailed the two appointments.”
The PDP said it is particularly disturbed by the development in the Independent National Electoral Commission where President Buhari, who knew all along that the immediate-past INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, would be leaving office by June 30, had to wait for him to hand over to one of the National Commissioners only to reverse it immediately, thereby injecting bad blood in the commission.
According to Metuh, the appointment of Amina Zakari as the acting chairman of INEC “was influenced by personal relationship with the Presidency and one of the new governors of the North West, ostensibly to pave the way for the APC at the electoral tribunals, has completely eroded public trust in the commission”.
The PDP said while it recognizes the right and powers of the President to appoint the Chairman of INEC, it declared the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as unacceptable and demand that President Buhari changes her immediately.
The party said: “Our reasons include the fact that due process was not observed in the appointment and that Mrs. Zakari has shown in the last elections that she is manifestly bias in favour of the APC. Finally her appointment is a clear case of nepotism.
“We ask, if they trusted Prof. Jega and commended him for conducting free and fair elections, why would they not trust him on who to hold forth in the commission until a substantive Chairman is appointed, rather than appointing someone who is retiring from the commission in the next three weeks?
“With the prevailing record of Mr. President on appointments, it is unlikely that a substantive INEC Chairman will be appointed in the next one year. Is there a hidden agenda? Has Mrs. Zakari been handed a script to act given that we have cases in the tribunals in addition to the forthcoming elections in Kogi and Bayelsa?
“While we restate our respect for the office and person of the President, the Presidency and the APC must know that though Nigerians are willing to give them time to perform, they are tired of their unfounded excuses of handover notes coming late; of meeting empty treasury, of clearing the so-called Augean Stable among nuances of other frivolous claims.
“What Nigerians expect today is a government that will hit the ground running, face the challenges of governance and commence implementation of its campaign promises.”
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