Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday described the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a ‘one chance political vehicle’, likening the party to a prodigal child whose members are forgiven but reminded to act responsibly.
The PDP governors’ statement came in response to comments by the ADC, which accused them of dancing on the graves of Nigerians killed due to high levels of insecurity in Zamfara State.
In a statement by Emmanuel Agbo, Director General of the PDP Governors’ Forum, the governors said:
“The ADC, having made a decision akin to entering a ‘One Chance vehicle’, is again reminded that, like the proverbial forgiving father to the prodigal son, the PDP still has our arms and doors widely open to them if they genuinely act remorsefully in repentance.”
The governors expressed frustration at the ADC’s August 23 meeting in Gusau, Zamfara State, which they said sought to politicise human lives. “Playing politics and trying to gain political capital with human lives isn’t our stock in trade as is characteristic of the ADC,” they stated.
They further explained that the meeting extensively deliberated on national issues, including security, and issued a communique recognising Zamfara State’s initiatives to curb insecurity while condemning continued killings in Katsina, Plateau, Niger, and Benue states.
“Since their exit, the PDP has become much more formidable and focused, with a clear determination to have our eyes on the ball,” the governors added. “The ADC, with its inordinate sense of entitlement, previously constituted a huge clog to the wheel of national unity and harmony. That the ADC couldn’t see that much isn’t surprising, as the prodigal son wasn’t known to have any pity on his father’s fortune.”
In a related development, the All Progressives Congress (APC) described the PDP as a party “deeply in comatose and crippled by intractable crisis of its own making, fallen into ruins, and stood rejected by Nigerians.”
National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, reacted to the PDP governors’ statements, saying:
“It is comical for the governors of the PDP, a party in deep comatose, savagely crippled by intractable crisis of its own making, and turned an unrecognisable shadow of its old self, to be making statements that only aptly describe its own doomed fate, now and in the lead-up to 2027.
“The PDP has since fallen into ruins and stands rejected by Nigerians. When its governors gather in their scanty numbers, one would expect them to have some shame and concentrate on how to resuscitate their terminally ailing party with a sense of urgency and responsibility. Instead, they prefer to waste their time making frivolous and senseless allegations and innuendos against our great party.”
Morka highlighted that the APC’s dominant victory in recent by-elections demonstrates public confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s administration and its Renewed Hope policies. He added:
“It is infantile and irresponsible for PDP governors to hail democracy where they won in the by-election and decry democracy everywhere they lost. The victory or defeat of the PDP or other opposition parties is not, and cannot be, the barometer for measuring the credibility of the country’s electoral process or performance.”
Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale
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