Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have said Nigerians cannot survive four more years under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Chairman of PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal said this, yesterday, at the opening ceremony of a two-day PDP National Retreat 2021 themed ‘It’s Time to Rescue and Rebuild Nigeria’.
Tambuwal said the PDP must strategise to take over in 2023 as the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has in the past six years failed to take the country to the heights expected by Nigerians.
He said the ruling APC had demonstrated gross incompetence in managing the fortunes of the country.
He called on PDP leaders to think outside the box rather than resort to criticisms and rescue Nigeria for good.
He also said Nigeria must embrace restructuring to survive.
“Can Nigeria survive another four years of APC? The answer is a resounding no. It is too frightening to contemplate. PDP remains the only credible alternative to APC and we cannot afford to fail Nigerians. We must keep hope alive. We can do it. Yes, we can, as Obama would say,” he said.
The National Chairman-elect of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, said Nigeria has been badly brutalised, robbed and traumatised in the past six years plus.
He said the retreat of wider party leadership from across Nigeria became necessary because of the duty and expectations of Nigerians to them to rescue and rebuild the country already “in very deep trouble”.
A former minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, who gave an overview of the highs and lows of the PDP since its formation in 1998, called on party leaders and stakeholders to stay focused and forge a common front in the task of wresting power from the ruling APC in 2023.
Reacting, the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, said PDP was crying for its political survival as a party and not the survival of Nigerians.
“PDP is crying for political survival that is why its members have become scavengers; that is why its members have been jumping ship to the APC. PDP can’t survive in the next four years because of their hunger for power. But Nigerians will survive,” he said.
