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| OLISAH METUH National Publicity Secretary, PDP |
Gentlemen of the Press,
As you are aware, in the last 15 years of our democracy, our great party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to be the custodian of the sacred mandate freely given by Nigerians since 1999.
Within this period, the PDP has strictly and Vigorously
applied itself to delivering on the mandate of not only establishing a free and
democratic society in which the powers and actions of government are lawful but
also creating a dynamic economy where the welfare and prosperity of the people
are guaranteed through sound policies and rapid infrastructural development in all
the sectors of the economy.
However, while millions of Nigerians continue to enjoy the
evident benefits of having the PDP in power, and demonstrating their
satisfaction through their votes in successive elections, the opposition has
mounted a negative campaign asking what the PDP has done in the last 15 years.
Many of them have also queried the rationale behind the
unanimous adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as our sole Presidential
candidate for the 2015 general election.
The Peoples Democratic Party will respond in a unique way. In
the next couple of months, beginning from Monday, September 22, 2014, the
Publicity Directorate will embark on a comprehensive nationwide PDP Performance
Tour to visit and publicize all projects executed by all PDP elected and
appointed officials at the federal, state and local government levels in all
the sectors of the economy since 1999, including constituency projects and
interventions using special bodies such as NDDC, PTDF, CBN, SURE-P, etc.
Indeed, there is no state, local government or ward in Nigeria
that has not been positively affected by projects executed by PDP governments
at federal, state and local government levels. Such projects abound in non-PDP
states and many Nigerians erroneously give credit to the opposition, which they
eagerly accept.
Also, in states formerly controlled by the PDP, such as Edo,
Rivers, Nasarawa, Kano, Sokoto, Kwara, among others, the opposition parties,
now in control are laying claims to our projects. This tour will ‘recover’ our
projects claimed by the opposition and return the credit to the PDP.
This is in addition to constituency projects by federal and
state lawmakers, which were mobilized by the PDP-led Federal Government as well
as the rapid growth in the private sector owing to our well-articulated reform
policies and programmes in key sectors including banking, power, communication,
aviation, transport, commerce and industry, retailing, agriculture, housing and
others making our nation one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Our tour will entail a comprehensive sector-by-sector
appraisal of our performance in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and the
successes recorded in transforming the lives of citizens in the last 15 years
of our democracy.
How is the PDP Performance Tour different from the Good
Governance Tour? While the Good Governance Tour focused on the projects
executed by all the parties under the current dispensation, the PDP Publicity
Tour will focus on all projects executed by all PDP elected or appointed
officials including the Federal Government, our state governors, ministers
federal and state legislators, local government chairmen and councilors past
and present since 1999.
We therefore urge all Nigerians to be part of this laudable
project as we catalogue our collective successes under the PDP-led
administration. In this regard, we wish to state that as we embark on our
performance tours, we will no longer focus on answering to diatribes of the
opposition. Our answer to such is that we meet at the polls in 2015. All
members of the party are by this directed to comply accordingly.
The leadership of the party also wishes to use this
opportunity to congratulate all members of our National Executive Committee
(NEC) for a successful meeting last Thursday.
We note that the decision of NEC to endorse President Goodluck
Jonathan was based on his performance in office and the confidence our people
have expressed in his leadership. The fact remains that under the present
administration, our nation has witnessed an unprecedented progress in all
critical sectors through Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda in spite of the
security challenges we face as a nation.
Apart from the massive infrastructural development being
witnessed across board, it is incontestable that the private sector has immensely
flourished in the last three years owing to the continued implementation of our
manifesto and policies including the PDP ideology of transfer of wealth from
public institutions to the private sector, allowing hard working private
individuals to thrive in manufacturing, aviation, housing, banking, telecoms,
food processing, hospitality, education, transport, construction, oil and gas
among others.
The leap in the nation’s economy has been acknowledged by the
world community. The Fitch Ratings which affirmed Nigeria’s long-term foreign
and local currency IDRs, the senior unsecured bond and Short-term foreign
currency IDR ratings respectively at ‘BB”s and the rebasing of our economy
which placed it as the 26th largest economy in the world and the largest economy
in Africa attest to this.
We invite Nigerians to note that these achievements were in
spite of very serious security challenges facing the administration especially,
the insurgency in the north. It is our incontrovertible statement that no other
political party in this country would have maintained democracy in the face of
such stiff detraction.
Also we note the candor, forthrightness and humility with
which President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to apply himself in ensuring
the welfare and prosperity of all Nigerians as one family without regard to
ethnic, tribal, religious and political considerations.
It is manifest that President Jonathan enjoys the support and
solidarity of the Nigerian people who desire the continuation of his Transformation
Agenda and the consolidation of the gains thereof under the PDP-led
administration.
Finally, in keeping with our total commitment to the tenets of
internal democracy, the leadership of the PDP hereby releases our comprehensive
guideline for our nomination processes for the 2015 general election. We assure
our members and teeming supporters that we are not only strictly committed to
ensuring a level playing ground for all aspirants but also assures of a strong
and formidable platform for victory in the elections.
Thank you.
Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary.Follow on BBM: 7C081F30
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