Tobi Soniyi
A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has alleged that corruption under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is worse than 16 years when PDP ruled.
Speaking with PDP leaders in Enugu as part of his nationwide consultation on his aspiration, Makarfi said the extent of corruption in the country would not be known until APC had left power.
The former Kaduna State governor said that the anti-graft war was weak under the current administration because it had been politicised.
He said APC was always accusing the PDP of being corrupt, yet it took measures to fight against corruption by establishing anti-graft agencies.
He said: “By the time APC is kicked out in 2019, you will know that the corruption in the system now is even worse now than in PDP’s 16 years. It is usually difficult to investigate a government in power.
“But, I must tell you clearly that this government is corrupt. They keep saying PDP is corrupt, yet we established EFCC, ICPC etc, which showed our readiness to fight corruption from the beginning.”
Makarfi said the best of the presidential aspirants must be chosen at the party’s convention in a bid to wrest power from the APC in 2019.
He added that the PDP’s presidential candidate would tell if the PDP would return to power in 2019 or not.
In a statement by his media assistant, Mr Sirajo Mukhtar, Makarfi had said having chaired the technical committee that set the agenda for the National Conference under President Olusegun Obasanjo, restructuring Nigeria under his leadership would not be difficult.
He said he would incorporate whatever Nigerians resolved and would also being in people that would reviewed his committee’s report to accommodate new development, recalling that his committee proposed how the country could be restructured but noted that the recommendation was not followed through.
“First of all restructuring is not what a leader wants but what the people want. I chaired the technical committee that set the agenda for the National Conference under Obasanjo, even though some of the items were removed from the report. We need to bring Nigerians together to dust that report, remove what is obsolete and and add what is new, whatever Nigerians resolve,” he said.
On the allegations of being too gentle to lead Nigeria Makarfi said,” People said I was too gentle to defeat Sheriff, what happened? Don’t be mistaken by looks. It is the action. In Kaduna State people saw my actions. People said I was too gentle to handle the Kaduna Mafia but what happened? Those who will mistake me to be weak will be shocked but Nigerians will be happy.”
Senator Makarfi also disclosed that he was the first governor in the country to appoint non indigenes in his cabinet and as governor an Ogbo man was elected as member of the state House of Assembly. “My history will tell Nigerians who I am. It is not even in promising but in what I have done,” he said.
On the accusation that PDP misruled the country for sixteen years, Makarfi said, “ Ninety percent of those who accuse PDP of misruling Nigeria were PDP people who were on positions of authority. They were the ones who misruled and ran to APC. That is why APC is not ruling well. The people that remained in the PDP are the good people so Nigerians should take note.”
