The Young Progressive Party (YPP) has castigated the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed over his allegation that the opposition political parties are mobilising the Boko Haram insurgents and armed bandits to cause violence during the 2019 elections.
The party through its National Chairman, Bishop Emmanuel Amakiri in a press conference on the state of the nation in Abuja on Wednesday stressed that the allegation to say the least is mischievous especially coming from a ruling party, which it said is still acting as an opposition.
Amakiri said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is playing to the gallery in matters of urgent national security adding that what the APC led government is doing is the highest level of irresponsibility by a government whose primary purpose is to protect lives and property.
He said that the fact that the APC government is raising alarm rather than acting on the intelligence at its disposal as claimed by Lai Muhammed clearly shows a disconnect and that there is something sinister being planned by ruling party.
“If the government indeed has credible Intel or evidence against opposition leaders planning to disrupt the electoral process, arrest cum prosecution and not hasty press conference should have been the ideal course of action. With a benefit of hindsight into the shenanigans of the APC, we are calling on all Nigerians to please resist any plan to postpone the general elections or arrest opposition leaders based on trumped up charges.
“We are also calling on the APC and PDP to focus on issue-based campaign rather than overheating the polity with accusations and counter accusations on who can or cannot enter the United States of America or who is mobilizing the Boko Haram insurgents assumed to have been technically defeated to scuttle the electoral process,” the chairman said.
The YPP chair said further that the state of the nation as it borders on security, economy, unemployment and poverty should be the focal point of the 2019 campaign adding that comparative statistics have shown that both the APC and PDP have failed Nigerians and should never again be trusted with leadership.
On the letter written by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, the YPP said its position is that Nigerians should be concerned and pay attention to the message and not the messenger considering his sordid past as a leader with the best opportunity to have laid a solid foundation for the country but frittered the chance on the altar of personal ambition.
“This does not however, invalidate the fact that he is one of the most informed Nigerians and on the strength of this should be taken seriously especially when most of the desperate actions taken by this government such as the hasty arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal few weeks to the general elections seems to corroborate his allegations,” he said.
On the new minimum wage of N27,000 for States and the private sector and N30,000 for the Federal government, the YPP said it is a welcome development and the government should be commended even though it is coming a bit too late considering the high level of poverty caused by several failed economic policies of this government. “The double digit inflation in almost 4years without commensurate increment in salaries shows how much Nigerian workers have persevered,” Amakri said.
“Even though we are compelled to believe the labour movement may have been compromised, we still want to support their legitimate agitation that the new minimum wage should be N30k across board while calling on the National Assembly to give speedy passage to the bill on new minimum wage that will be presented today.
“The Young Progressives Party will not fail to commend the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON), the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG), all Presidential candidates and their running mates who participated in the just concluded national debate with emphasis on our candidates, Prof Kingsley Moghalu and Hajia Umma Getso for their flawless delivery of the YPP manifesto and overall policy direction if voted into office by Nigerians come February 16, 2019″.
“No doubt their performance was top notch and this has been further confirmed by high ratings on several independent opinion polls. Noteworthy is the recent opinion poll by Vanguard Newspapers where 58% of respondents were mostly impressed by Prof. Kingsley Moghalu’s grasp of our challenges as a nation and his pragmatic solutions to them,” he said.
The YPP frowned at the deliberate refusal of the candidates of the APC, President Muhammadu Buhari and that of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar to participate in the debate saying that it is an affront on the collective will of Nigerians.
“While not a surprise because of their failed past, we appeal to Nigerians to come out enmass in this forthcoming general elections to reject the APC and PDP through their votes in order to put an end to this sense of entitlement by recycled political leaders who have impoverished us in the past 19 years”.
“It is impossible for these leaders to give what they don’t have and having been responsible for destroying our past, they cannot be trusted to build the future we deserve”.
“Hence, the Young Progressives Party in the coming days will commence an aggressive advocacy in collaboration with other critical stakeholders to push for a law that would make the attendance of national debates mandatory as the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is too important to be left in the hands of incompetent characters,” YPP said.
The party also said that those who are not prepared for leadership and ready to be accountable to the citizens should not be allowed to occupy public office since leadership comes with responsibility.
“Conclusively, the YPP remains a people oriented movement with the core mandate of building an egalitarian society anchored on the Nigerian citizens as the prime resource even as we call on Nigerians to join us in this committed quest of building a new progressive and greater Nigeria,” the party said.
