Femi Aribisala: APC Is The Worst Thing to Happen to Nigeria’s Democracy - Opinion
There are so many things wrong with the PDP. It is an understatement
to insist it is a very imperfect political party. But for everything
that is wrong with the PDP, the APC is worse. It is ludicrous to
pretend the APC is squeaky-clean while the PDP is corrupt when a large
chunk of APC members were formerly in the PDP. Today, both the Senate
president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, for
example, are former PDP members. These turncoats did not become new
creations when they crossed over to the APC.
When queried about why APC's so-called anti-corruption campaign is
mostly directed at PDP opposition members, the APC party chairman John
Odigie-Oyegun insists the PDP has been the party in power for the last
16 years. This is disingenuous because the APC and its legacy parties
have also been in power for the last 16 years. ACN/APC has ruled Lagos
for the last 16 years. Let EFCC beam its anti-corruption searchlight
on that state and let us see if it will not throw up a cesspool of
corruption.
If EFCC can probe Sule Lamido who was governor of Jigawa for eight
years, what prevents it from probing Rotimi Amaechi who was governor
of Rivers State also for eight years? Even if we were to accept the
ridiculous APC treatise that there is a corruptible seed in the PDP
which immediately disappears when a PDP member becomes an APC member,
then it becomes necessary to probe Amaechi in the years he was still a
PDP governor, before he became a new creation of the APC. The same
would apply, for example, to Rabiu Kwankwaso as PDP governor of Kano
before he switched to the APC.
Jonathan's statesmanship
To win the last presidential election, APC had to match the political
rigmaroles of the PDP. Indeed, APC prevailed because it was ultimately
more unscrupulous. APC successfully exaggerated the vote in its areas
of strength in the North-West far more than the PDP did in the
South-South and the South-East. In the process, twice the number of
people were alleged to have voted in old Kano (Kano and Jigawa) than
did in Lagos. So meticulous were Kano voters that they did not void a
single ballot out of over two million votes cast. If you believe that,
you can believe anything.
In the final analysis, APC won the election because of the humanity
and political maturity of one man: Goodluck Jonathan. Presidents don't
lose elections in Nigeria. The Nigerian president possesses the power
and resources to manipulate any and every election to his advantage.
Make no mistake about it, Goodluck Jonathan wanted to win the last
election. However, he did not want to win at all costs. He lost the
election because, from the get-go, he was prepared to lose for the
sake of advancing the democratic process in Nigeria.
read the rest from below :
www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/femi-aribisala-apc-is-the-worst-thing-to-happen-to-nigeria's-democracy-opinion.176558/
to insist it is a very imperfect political party. But for everything
that is wrong with the PDP, the APC is worse. It is ludicrous to
pretend the APC is squeaky-clean while the PDP is corrupt when a large
chunk of APC members were formerly in the PDP. Today, both the Senate
president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, for
example, are former PDP members. These turncoats did not become new
creations when they crossed over to the APC.
When queried about why APC's so-called anti-corruption campaign is
mostly directed at PDP opposition members, the APC party chairman John
Odigie-Oyegun insists the PDP has been the party in power for the last
16 years. This is disingenuous because the APC and its legacy parties
have also been in power for the last 16 years. ACN/APC has ruled Lagos
for the last 16 years. Let EFCC beam its anti-corruption searchlight
on that state and let us see if it will not throw up a cesspool of
corruption.
If EFCC can probe Sule Lamido who was governor of Jigawa for eight
years, what prevents it from probing Rotimi Amaechi who was governor
of Rivers State also for eight years? Even if we were to accept the
ridiculous APC treatise that there is a corruptible seed in the PDP
which immediately disappears when a PDP member becomes an APC member,
then it becomes necessary to probe Amaechi in the years he was still a
PDP governor, before he became a new creation of the APC. The same
would apply, for example, to Rabiu Kwankwaso as PDP governor of Kano
before he switched to the APC.
Jonathan's statesmanship
To win the last presidential election, APC had to match the political
rigmaroles of the PDP. Indeed, APC prevailed because it was ultimately
more unscrupulous. APC successfully exaggerated the vote in its areas
of strength in the North-West far more than the PDP did in the
South-South and the South-East. In the process, twice the number of
people were alleged to have voted in old Kano (Kano and Jigawa) than
did in Lagos. So meticulous were Kano voters that they did not void a
single ballot out of over two million votes cast. If you believe that,
you can believe anything.
In the final analysis, APC won the election because of the humanity
and political maturity of one man: Goodluck Jonathan. Presidents don't
lose elections in Nigeria. The Nigerian president possesses the power
and resources to manipulate any and every election to his advantage.
Make no mistake about it, Goodluck Jonathan wanted to win the last
election. However, he did not want to win at all costs. He lost the
election because, from the get-go, he was prepared to lose for the
sake of advancing the democratic process in Nigeria.
read the rest from below :
www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/femi-aribisala-apc-is-the-worst-thing-to-happen-to-nigeria's-democracy-opinion.176558/
No comments:
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of the Nigerianewsmill