APC, WHERE IS THY INTEGRITY?

In the morning of your rising, you laid a burden of hope upon the hearts of Nigerians; you qualified yourself as the Messiah. You spoke as the angel of light; running your lips as a prostitute by the roadside and telling every passer-by of the value-added economy that you were bringing to the table.

You promised the international community that you were going to transform Nigeria within 24 hours, provide electricity in six months, obliterate Boko Haram in three months, bring back the kidnapped girls in one month, empower the naira to become one naira to a Dollar, exterminate corruption without partisanship or vendetta, end fuel subsidy payment and provide 10 million jobs every year.

You vowed with the Koran in your hand and the Holy Bible in the other hand that you will eradicate poverty and reduce inflation in Nigeria, that you will pay the unemployed monthly stipends, conduct free fair and credible elections, increase salaries of workers, and ensure prompt and steady payment.

You swore before the god of thunder in Ijebu Ode to clean the Ogoni land of oil spillage that had rendered that region barren and uncultivable; you vowed to make Niger Delta an investment haven to compensate the region for its golden egg that had been used to build the rest of Nigeria to the region’s detriment but above all, to give the region its due by resolving the vexed issue of derivation.

You promised before the deity of Okija Shrine to empower the youths and women and more, you went to Mount Sinai and borrowed microphones from the CNN and told the world that the PDP members were all Corrupt and had ruined Nigeria for the past 16 years.

You promised the refurbishment of all the ailing industries and construct roads across Nigeria, you took oath to provide security of lives and properties of Nigerians.

 You promised never to be partisan with the development of Nigeria. But APC you lied, just as a common prostitute on the streets of Milan, you lied and got our votes and in the end, you abandoned Nigerians.

Your Government  promised to empower the youths, is without any iota of commitment to the future of Nigerian youth. He now sees the youths of this country as lazy and wasteful.

PDP introduced numerous programs to provide economic opportunities for Nigerian youths. PDP spearheaded the YOUWIN programme, which created wealth to the youth and employment, hence alleviating poverty.

The programme created 80,000 -110,000 jobs over the three years of its existence. He also introduced SURE-P (The Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme) which created over 500,000 jobs across the country.

 Today APC has changed the name of these initiatives to N-Power, whatever that means.

PDP never insulted the youths of Nigeria, but APC led Government did without conscience insulted 70 million Nigerian youths and broadcasted our laziness to the international community. 

The same people you lied to, using empowerment and employment opportunities to lure their votes.

You blasted PDP's Government for plunging Nigeria into debt but in just three years, the APC has destroyed the Nigerian economy and raised the debt burden to N21.7 trillion. What a shame! A Party that launders its image through falsehood and propaganda.

They lied that they will revamp Nigeria's Economy but in just two years, the APC government ran Nigeria into recession. Such that states could no longer pay salaries, some owing workers over 14 months in salary arrears.

The best advertisement for good governance is the positive impressions on the lives of the governed. When the PDP left the stage, the Nigeria economy was the largest in Africa and the 23rd in the world with a GDP of about $503bn. 

Still, under the PDP, Nigeria had become the number one destination in Africa for foreign direct investment (FDI). Oh APC! You can lie to win the election, but you cannot lie to sustain the economy. 

This development brought about the predictions that Nigeria would become the third fastest growing economy in the world by 2015, according to CNN business.

 Under President Jonathan, Nigeria hosted the World Economic Forum on Africa for the first time in 2014, showcasing Nigeria’s impressive economic growth to a global audience and attracting further foreign investments..

But the APC quacks ruined the image of Nigeria with tactless comments and a one-sided anti-corruption battle that casts serious doubt in the minds of investors who withdrew their investments from Nigeria resulting in the drop in foreign investment by as much as 85 per cent..

 Little wonder that in the face of recession, untold hardship becomes the epidemic forcing thousands of Nigerians to untimely death.

APC Government met Naira at 170 naira to a dollar crashed it to N475 per dollar despite that they had promised Nigerians to make naira equal with the dollar. 

Nigerians were told during the first Speech of Buhari, that he is the President of all, today the entire Nigerians can see that he is the President of an enclave.

Also, despite the fact that peace and security are the barest irreducible conditions for social and economic development, the clueless APC government has allowed mindless killings to continue unabated thereby destroying the very fabrics that hold Nigeria together.

Never had the unity of the country been called to question than under the current APC regime.  

Herdsmen have in the past three years killed over a hundred thousand Nigerians, yet the APC Government has not seen anything wrong with it. Instead, they are sponsoring bills to create Fulani colonies across the length and breadth of Nigeria. 

Contrast with IPOB that is neither armed nor has any it any inclination to such waste of lives yet  APC Government proscribed it as a terrorist organization. What a double standard! 

The Boko Haram you vowed to end in six months is still executing its campaign of senseless carnage of both civilians and military, yet all the APC Government is doing, is to compare the numbers of people that died during 16 years of PDP government and the numbers in its own. What better way there is to define cluelessness!

There is this local adage that the dog that lay with the mother has lost its conscience. Going by the aforementioned, the APC has portrayed itself as a party without principle and conscience, a gathering of men and women where falsehood, inconsistencies, and double-standards are abiding principles. 

So do you believe them when they tell you that the PDP is the party with the most Corrupt member? The media are awash with the allegation that the APC is paying PDP members to defect to its fold.

 An erstwhile South-South PDP chieftain, who recently defected to the APC was alleged to have been given billions of naira with a promise of an oil bloc and the Senate Presidency. 

This is the same politician that before now, had a case to answer with the EFCC. 

My question if PDP members are as corrupt as the world is made to believe, why are they now wooed with billions of naira and the EFCC threat into the APC fold?

That the APC corruption fight is selective, is a needless cliché as only PDP members and the perceived enemies of the  Government are targets. 

Such that once a member of the opposition party crosses to the APC fold, he/she ‘atomatically’ becomes a saint. 

EFCC/DSS are now witch-hunting institutions, serving as revenging tools against perceived enemies and critics, even as they are used in blackmailing opposition party members to joining the APC.

During the tenure of PDP, elections were free and fair to the extent that PDP lost many States to the opposition parties such as Edo, Imo, Ondo, Ekiti Benue and Anambra, Ogun etc. 

 As Juicy as Lagos is, successive PDP Government never attempted to forcefully take over Lagos and the nine States in the Northern Nigeria that were predominantly opposition Party.

The last Ekiti Election was a clear case of militarization of democracy. Election was announced with 5,340 votes uncounted for, results collated from agents of the political parties showed PDP leading with over 15,000 votes, but APC candidate was announced as the winner.

So where is the integrity of APC?  Now Journalists are put behind bars with every little criticism of the ruling party. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan says democracy calls for sacrifice and tolerance, an open ear and a strong voice. APC, where is your integrity?

About $78bn is said to be missing from the NNPC coffers, up from the initial report of $21bn – all sums short of the national oil corporation’s remittance to the FAAC. So, where is the Minister of Petroleum Resources? Where is the money? And, where is the APC's Integrity?  

Indeed, President Jonathan was prophetic when he said, “the freedom of speech you enjoy today when I'm gone, you will not have such privileges anymore”.

So APC, Where is thy integrity APC?

By Emmanuel Nicholas