Ignore nPDP’s Antics, Senator Abdullahi Tells APC

By Ogheneuvede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ignore the antics of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), saying the group’s claim of marginalisation and its insistence on meeting with President Muhamadu Buhari is to blackmail, intimidate and ambush him.

Abdullahi, a former governor of Nasarawa State, in a statement issued Thursday in Abuja ahead of the national convention of the APC slated for Saturday, commended Buhari for refusing to interfere in the nPDP issue, which, according to him, was receiving the attention of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the leadership of the party.

He said it was time the party ‘’ignored the deliberate attempts’’ by some persons in the APC to distract President Buhari’s focus on governance, pointing out that the admonition was against the backdrop of their recent decision to resurrect the platform of the defunct nPDP to fight their personal battles.

“I belonged to the nPDP; and, as I had said before, there was nowhere we held a meeting to resurrect the group for the purpose of protesting alleged marginalisation of our former members by the APC-led federal government. Apart from that, the basis of the group’s allegation is tenuous.”

The senator, who is the north central zone’s coordinator for Buhari’s presidential campaign, said that the latest media report of President Buhari’s resolve not to interfere in the APC leadership’s meeting with the nPDP was a welcome development.

He stated that the President’s position that Vice President Osinbajo and the party leadership should interface with the nPDP was good for the supremacy of the APC.

He stated, “While the antics of the so-called nPDP to portray the Buhari administration as being unfair to the group in its appointments are reprehensible, I commend the President’s governance style and his litany of progressive decisions that are in tandem with the collective aspirations of our party.”

He commended, in particular, the President for signing the 2018 budget into law despite its shortcomings and about 200 days after the presentation of the fiscal estimates to the National Assembly.

Senator Abdullahi also said that it was disingenuous for the nPDP to create the impression that the Buhari administration had been partial in its appointments, saying nothing could be farther from the truth.

According to him, “If, however, the group’s ultimate agenda is to prepare the ground to pull out of the APC at the national convention or thereafter, I have good news for our teeming members nationwide: it is a notorious fact that some of the people concerned have already started jumping from one side of the aisle to the other in the chamber without a formal declaration of defection.”

He said that “time shall tell whether or not these persons actually count for something in the bigger picture of Mr. President’s bid to have his presidential mandate renewed by Nigerians who are enamoured by his anti-corruption war and his integrity in government.”

On the national convention, the senator stressed the need for party members and leaders to keep their eyes sharply-focused on the ball, pointing out that “our goal is to strengthen our party ahead of the crucial 2019 general elections and, therefore, all hands must be on deck to achieve this important feat through excellent management of the convention.”

He commended the Convention Planning Committee for a good job that it had done so far and urged all candidates and delegates to cooperate with and support the committee to deliver on its assignment.

While wishing the party a successful convention, Adamu expressed belief in the capacity of the APC, under the leadership of President Buhari, to organise a convention that would have acceptable outcomes to both winners and losers.

Related Articles