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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has lashed out at the All Progressive Congress-led administration, saying that the party runs a government of lies and propaganda.
Jonathan spoke in Abuja on Thursday while receiving one of the chairmanship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof Tunde Adeniran at his private residence.
The former President insisted that the PDP, which controlled government at the centre from 1999 to 2015 did well for the country but that the APC has failed the country and its people.
According to him, the APC administration has nothing to show in terms of achievement. Rather, the ruling party has been governing through lies and deployment of hi-tech propaganda to cover up its misrules.
Challenging the APC leadership to the public debate over its performance, Jonathan said: “The PDP administration for 16 did well and will continue to do well. But this administration has done nothing, the administration is full lies and propaganda.
“In the power sector, we did well to revive it, a certain state governor criticised our government, saying that any serious government should be able to fix the power sector within six months. But today, the APC has been in power for how many years? Fortunately, the then governor is in the APC Government as a Minister”.
The former President, however, said that all hope was not lost, adding that the PDP would go all out and put its house in order for it to return to power in 2019.
Jonathan said that Nigerians have been able to see the difference between the PDP and the APC in terms of performance.
“With the rate at which people are coming around to associate with a party that lost elections, it shows that the
people still believe in the PDP. With the number and calibre of the people coming out to vie for the seat of the national chairman and other offices of our party, it shows that our party still has another chance”, the ex-President added.
For the PDP to get it right and regain its lost glory, Jonathan said the party required a competent, reliable and courageous individual as national chairman to lead the PDP to victory in 2019.
According to him, the contest for the office of the national chairman is very interesting. It’s a healthy competition in which many of the aspirants have been coming here. This will allow the delegates to choose the best among them at the convention.
“For our party to make a headway, we need a national chairman that will select credible and reliable candidates for various elective offices at the various levels of government, from the Presidency to councillorship.
“We need a national chairman who will be courageous enough to call the President to order if we win the Presidency and the President is going astray. He must not be someone who would change when the party takes a position on issues.
“We need a national chairman who will rule the party democratically and carry others along. In fact, the national chairman is the leader of the party. It is not the other way round”.
The ex-President said judging by his long interaction with Prof Adeniran, coupled with testimonies of other party leaders, Adeniran possessed what it takes to lead the party at this critical point in time.
He warned the party leaders and the aspirants against turning the convention into a battlefield, saying the PDP must avoid another crisis that could jeopardise the party’s interest. He urged party leaders and members to see the upcoming convention as family affairs.
Speaking earlier, Adeniran said that he was not interested in the race at the initial stage, but that the need to rebuild and reposition the party ahead of the 2019 general elections prompted him to join the race.
Prof Adeniran added that he was in the race for the PDP to regain its lost glory and give Nigerians the real dividends of democracy that have eluded them since the PDP lost power in 2015.
