Following a statement by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Uche Secondus, apologizing to Nigerians for what he described as “the past mistakes of the PDP,” the Chairman of Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barrister Anselm Ojezua, has called on the Edo State PDP members to emulate their national chairman by apologizing to Edo people, and forget about governance.
Ojezua said: “Edo people deserve an unreserved apology from the Edo State chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih as well as other leaders of the party in the state, for their years of misrule. We need not debate the sins of the PDP over and again, now that the national chairman of the opposition party has courageously admitted to impunity and misrule.”
He explained that the “Edo APC has in the past, urged the Edo PDP to apologise for their sins which are still visible in all parts of the state, several years after they were voted out of office.”
He maintained that “it is foolhardy and imprudent to continue to grandstand when your sins stare at you daily, from the failed dredging of Ikpoba River, the failed Edo Water Board resuscitation project, failed Cassavita Factory, failed Fruit Juice processing factory in Ehor, failed Bendel Breweries and Edo Line, for which billions of naira were either borrowed or allegedly spent, yet Edo people never had the benefit of seeing their actualisation, and enjoying the outcomes.”
Ojezua argued that “if the Edo PDP government meant well for Edo people and completed these projects, the socio-economic profile of the state would have appreciated a great deal. Former Governor Adams Oshiomhole picked up a completely broken down state and rescued it from total collapse by aggressively fixing the huge infrastructural deficit he inherited, constructing schools, roads, hospitals and enthroning purposeful leadership.
“Today, Governor Godwin Obaseki is paying the desired attention to industrialisation, infrastructure, law and order and job creation, amongst other sectors. This is how to govern. Leaders must continue to raise the bar of service delivery and add value to our lives and not engage in looting spree, sponsoring lavish birthday parties with state funds.”
Secondus said at a well attended public discourse on contemporary politics and governance in Nigeria on Monday in Abuja: “We are sorry, we have made several mistakes which will not happen again.
“In the past there were impunity and imposition, we are not spirit, we have to be humble to apologise for imposition, impunity and other wrongdoings, while in government.
“Since it is said that charity begins at home, I am the very first to admit that our party the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015.
“Let me seize this opportunity to apologise to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all parts of an evolution process without which there can be no maturity.”
Ojezua stressed that “the evolution process of the PDP is far from complete” and advised them to “forego governance for the now and take out some years to mature, which requires several years, before making a re-launch.”
