The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has told a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega to stop using the party’s name to gain prominence.
The APC in a statement on Monday by the National Secretary of its Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe said Jega was only speaking about the party to launch his political career.
Earlier, Jega had warned that Nigerians must not vote for either the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in 2023.
He explained that both parties have had their chances and have failed Nigerians, hence the need to deny them votes during the next general elections.
According to Jega, both parties have proved they can’t solve the country’s problems and it is time for Nigerians to vote for a credible alternative.
But the APC said the submission by Jega is wrong and a mere political outburst.
It also noted that while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had failed Nigerians, the APC has restored hope and righting the wrongs of the many years of PDP rule.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to an uncontrolled, wrong and untenable political outburst by a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega in which he lumped the All Progressives Congress (APC), together with the failed People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“While the PDP failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians as a government and opposition party, the APC is thriving, healthy and assiduously cleaning the massive mess left behind by the PDP which failed to deliver democratic dividends to the people of Nigeria after being in charge of the country for 16 years.
“While Professor Jega is right about the PDP, a party under which he served as the Chairman of the nation’s election management body, we reject his comparison of the APC with the PDP.
“Professor Jega got his facts wrong and mixed up in his baseless comparison of the PDP with the APC.
“While we do not intend to join issues with Professor Jega, we encourage him to engage in genuine scholarly research and come up with evidence-based conclusions on the progressive orientation of the APC.
“It is however instructive to note that having recently abandoned his academic pursuit and blindly plunged into the arena of PDP’s brand of politics, the erstwhile electoral umpire as a politician can make such political statements occasionally while trying to launch his political career in a mushroom political party.
“The APC is a strong, united, popular, and focused political unit. Hence, the Professor should note the political lesson that maligning the APC would not provide him with a springboard to achieve his desires. Nigerians are wiser and remain the ultimate judges”.
Meanwhile, the Southern Nigeria Frontier (SNF) has berated the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) for describing Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere as a terrorist group.
Naija News earlier reported that the CNG in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdulazeez Suleiman, in Abuja on Saturday asked the federal government to proscribe Afenifere for allegedly undermining peace, security and peaceful coexistence of the country.
Reacting in a statement on Monday, SNF’s spokesman, Olufemi Lawson, described the Northern group as a national security threat.
The group added that it would confront CNG if the Federal Government failed to call the group and its members to order.
